Free video streaming platform Freely has laid claim to being the U.K.’s fastest-growing TV service after surpassing one million weekly users for the first time over Christmas.
That’s according to Everyone TV, the joint venture owned by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, which runs the Freely platform. It said the service edged past six figures for the first time when more than 1.01 million viewers tuned in during the week that ended on December 29.
The total number of viewers that week is almost twice as many as Freely recorded on August 25, and that is essentially the basis of its claim that it’s now the fastest-growing TV platform in the country.
Everyone TV launched Freely back in 2024, as a streaming based alternative to the popular Freeview Play service that’s accessible over broadband. The advantage of Freely is that it can be viewed using any smart TV, or even a regular TV that’s connected to the web by a dongle or streaming box. While Freeview Play has proven to be successful, viewers are required to purchase a separate set-top box specifically to access the service’s live and on-demand content over the traditional airwaves rather than the web.
Freely is available in TVs sold by various brands, including Hisense, Philips, Panasonic, TCL, Sharp, Toshiba, JVC and Metz, as well as a number of Amazon Fire and Roku TVs. The company also sells a puck-style device that can be plugged into non-smart TVs, and is planning to launch on Google TVs and TiVo TVs later this year. It expanded its platform in October at the MIPCOM event in Cannes, France, adding ten new channels, bringing its total to more than 70.
However, for all of the variety Freely offers, it’s the standard fare that’s the main draw for viewers. Over Christmas, Freely’s most popular channels were BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 and ITV2, respectively. Its most-watched shows included Emmerdale, EastEnders, Coronation Street, The King’s Speech, Finding Father Christmas, The Hunting Wives and Strictly Come Dancing.
Everyone TV Chief Executive Jonathan Thompson said the one million weekly viewer mark represents an “exciting milestone” for Freely, illustrating the growing demand for viewers to be able to livestream British TV favourites and discover new, on-demand shows in a single, easy-to-use platform. “Freely was the largest growing TV platform in 2025, showing the power of the UK’s public service broadcasters working together to make brilliant British TV easy to discover and stream,” he said.
