As of 2025 some new budget TVs made by Vestel (Bush, JVC, Sharp, Toshiba, Hitachi) do not include Freeview (DTT) receivers. They include Freely and some wireless device.
Freely is a British free-to-air IPTV service launched in 2024 by Everyone TV, a joint venture between the country's public broadcasters BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5. Freely streams television over a broadband internet connection and therefore does not require a television aerial, although an aerial can be additionally used to create a hybrid platform and allow the viewing of DTT channels not yet available on Freely.
You need a high speed internet connection to use this service. No internet, no TV.
The problem with streaming is it cannot be recorded. Not for technical reasons but for DRM (Digital Rights Management) issues. Thankfully most channels still broadcast on a schedule and it appears to be like traditional TV, but it might not always be like that. This allows the copyright holder complete control over when a program is shown, how long you can see it, and it may be removed at any time. This is wrong. With the BBC funded by the license fee WE should own the content because we paid for it already. We should be able to see it whenever we like. Let us record it.
OFCOM have beeen completely silent on this matter but it affects us all.
In the future without the ability to record, and this affects Sky Stream as well, the content owner controls everything and we have no ability to record or watch later.
At the moment Freely is a bit pathetic but as it improves it may eventually replace Freeview and in my opinion that is bad.
3rd May 2026 19:47, Posted by Michael.