Free video streaming service Freely is expanding once again, adding another 10 channels to its platform. The new channels are said to encompass global business news, shopping, true crime, movies and more, providing yet more viewing options to its increasingly comprehensive list.
Everyone TV, the consortium that operates Freely, announced the new channels at this week’s MIPCOM event in Cannes, France, saying they come from both existing and new content providers. AMC Networks International UK is providing five of the new channels – including True Crime UK, Evidence of Evil and Bloodline – which are all crime-related shows produced by that company through a joint venture with Paramount. In addition, AMC will be bringing its Love After Lock Up and AMC Reality shows to Freely, joining existing channels already on the platform – Legend, True Crime and Watch Free UK.
Other new channels to look forward to include Blaze, which is already well known to Brits who have access to the Freeview terrestrial broadcast service, providing a mix of reality TV, crime, mystery and UFO-related programmes.
Business types and stock market followers will look forward to the arrival of the Bloomberg News channel, while fans of classic British films may want to take a look at Talking Pictures TV, which has access to a library of old gems from the Pinewood, Shepperton and Twickenham film studios. There’s also Local TV, which will stream localised content for viewers based on their region. There will be 11 regional variations of this channel, Freely said.
Last but not least, Freely announced Gemporia, which is a dedicated shopping channel focused on jewellery and related products .
The new additions mark the latest expansion of Freely, which now provides access to more than 70 livestreamed channels, including those from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, which are all part of the Everyone TV consortium. It’s often said to be the streaming-based equivalent of Freeview Play, which requires users to buy a special set-top box to access British broadcasts via traditional airwaves instead of the web.
The Freely service launched last year in order to modernize the British broadcasting scene and help the country move away from its reliance on traditional over-the-air broadcasting. It’s accessible via an application that’s available on a growing range of TVs from brands like Hisense, Philips, Panasonic, TCL, Sharp, Toshiba, Metz, JVC and others. It can also be found on streaming devices such as Amazon’s Fire TV sticks and Roku dongles, and there are plans to launch on Google TVs and TiVo TVs in future.
Freely is fully focused on expanding access to its platform. It recently surpassed the 500,000 weekly viewer milestone, and in July announced plans to launch a dedicated dongle device, which can be plugged into any TV with an HDMI port. With this device, it’s hoped that many more people will take a look at its service, and it hopes to be installed in more than 7 million households by the end of the decade.
