Freely will launch Spotlight Channels in the coming months, allowing broadcasters to pay an extra fee for a more prominent placement in the TV Guide on your set-top box or Smart TV. It's similar to Sponsored Results at the top of your latest Google search, or adverts for software in the App Store or Google Play Store.
Freely Spotlight Channels will be available on Channel 31 and Channels 90–99, so it won't impact the first 30 channels listed in your TV Guide, but will only become visible as you scroll deeper into the EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) on your box or Smart TV. Everyone TV, the organisation behind Freely and its predecessors Freeview and Freesat, says the next feature will "increased monetisation opportunities for connected TV" partners.
Spotlight Channels let broadcasters pay a fee to be featured more prominently in the TV Guide on Freely TVs and set-top boxes
|EVERYONE TV PRESS OFFICE
V, the company behind the VIDAA OS smart TV operating system powering Hisense TVs, has been confirmed as the launch partner and will be the first to bring a curated selection of channels from their line-up to the Freely TV Guide. The first channels that you'll see in these paid-for slots? Channels from V, formerly VIDAA, which is set to announce and launch its channels within the Freely TV Guide on Hisense devices.
At the beginning, Freely was only available on brand-new Smart TVs built from the ground up for its software, which lets you pause live free-to-air television channels and restart a show that's already in progress
|EVERYONE TV PRESS OFFICE
Hisense was the first brand to launch Smart TVs powered by Freely, so it's unsurprising to see the Chinese brand at the forefront of the latest features from Everyone TV.
Freely viewers will find 11 new Spotlight Channels from partners on their boxes when the feature launches "later this year," Everyone TV has confirmed. This isn't something that we've seen from Everyone TV's other products, Freeview and Freesat, which are the most popular ways to watch free-to-air television in the UK.
For those who don't know, Freely is designed and built by Everyone TV, the same BBC and ITV-backed team behind Freeview and Freesat. What sets Freely apart is that it's all powered by broadband and forecast to overtake both of its predecessors by the end of the decade.
At the beginning, Freely was only available on brand-new Smart TVs built from the ground up for its software, which lets you pause live free-to-air television channels and rewind a show that's already in progress.
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With Freely, the redesigned Mini Guide offers extra information on the programme you're watching, a shortcut to additional episodes from catch-up services, and the ability to restart from the beginning with a single tap | FREELY PRESS OFFICE | GBN The TV Guide lets you scroll backwards in time, bringing a selection of on-demand content drawn from catch-up services like BBC iPlayer and ITVX into the EPG. But if you didn't want to upgrade to a new flatscreen, you had to stick with Freeview or Freesat. That's all changed with the arrival of these Apple TV-like boxes that bring the latest Freely features to any television with a 10Mbps internet connection.
French brand Netgem was the first to launch a standalone set-top box that unlocked the power of Freely to any television, but British brand Manhattan soon followed up with its own — much more affordable model. Both of these boxes have struggled to stay in stock, with a rush on demand from excited viewers.
With so much success, unsurprisingly, more of these telly boxes are on the way.
Discussing the latest commercial offering from Everyone TV, Chief Commercial Officer Deep Halder said: “As Freely continues to scale, we are focused on building a platform that delivers long-term value across the whole ecosystem.
"Enabling CTV OS partner participation in defined parts of the TV guide allows us to deliver unprecedented value to our CTV OS partners in new ways, while staying true to our commitment to UK audiences to ensure free, trusted TV remains easy to discover in the streaming age.
"As our first partner at Freely’s launch two years ago, it feels fitting that V is leading the way as our Spotlight Channels launch partner, with their new channels featuring prominently within the TV Guide."
Freely Spotlight Channels will sit alongside existing high-quality and familiar UK broadcasters within the Freely TV guide, giving selected channels greater prominence and credibility within a regulated TV environment in the UK.
Guy Edri, Co-Founder and CEO, V, added: "The UK is a strategically important market for V, and Freely represents exactly the kind of forward-thinking platform we want to partner with.
"Spotlight Channels allow us to bring more free, high-quality streaming content directly to viewers through the Freely TV Guide – reinforcing our belief that great television should be accessible to everyone. V is committed to creating more value for audiences and partners alike, and this is a natural next step in that journey."
For those who don't know, Freely launched in the first half of 2024. It arrives packed with an on-demand catalogue brimming with over 75,000 hours of on-demand content (believe it or not, that's more than Netflix).
Everyone TV previously announced that Freely surpassed one million weekly users across the Christmas week, with growth continuing into the first quarter. Unlike Freeview, Freely boasts several clever features that you'd usually only associate with paid-for platforms like Sky Glass or Sky Stream, including pausing live television and rewinding a show that's in progress, without the need for a dish, aerial, or monthly subscription.