Your Freely TV will unlock 10 new channels with a free software update, as its total almost rivals Freeview

For those who don't know, Freely is designed to bring modern streaming capabilities to free-to-air television. It beams content via Wi-Fi connection rather than traditional aerial, which means you can place your flatscreen TV anywhere in the room as long as it has a minimum internet speed of 10Mbps.

For the first time, features that you'd associate with paid-for television services, like Sky Glass Gen 2 or Sky Stream, are baked into free-to-air solutions.

You can pause and restart a show once it has already started broadcasting, and following a free software update earlier this summer, Freely lets you scroll backwards in time on the TV Guide to access on-demand shows from catch-up services like BBC iPlayer and ITVX.

With the new additions, Freely will carry over 70 live channels over Wi-Fi, alongside more on-demand content than any major streaming service in the UK. Based on the latest viewing figures, Freely is on track to overtake its predecessors — Freeview and Freesat — to become the UK’s largest TV device platform by 2030.

What makes this forecast for Freely so impressive is that the new platform is not simply a software update that can be downloaded onto your existing Freeview-enabled Smart TV or set-top box. Instead, you'll need to upgrade to one of a swathe of new Smart TVs built from the ground up to support Freely.

Hisense was the first brand to add support for Freely across its 2024 lineup of TVs, with the likes of Bush, Toshiba, Sharp, Panasonic, and Metz also switching from Freeview to Freely as the default way to watch free-to-air channels on their newest flatscreens. Freeview successor Freely is also the default way to stream live television in select Amazon Fire TVs as well as TVs built by rival Roku, so there's no shortage of choice.

Freely is proving especially popular with younger audiences, with 16–34s the largest group of early adopters. GB News was added to the service via a free software update earlier this year.

The 10 new channels coming to Freely are the result of a new deal struck with Bloomberg TV+ and Hearst Networks. New channels include BLAZE, Bloomberg TV+, Talking Pictures TV, Gemporia and Local TV.

Existing Freely partner AMC Networks International UK (AMCNI UK), will launch 5 of the new channels, three through its joint venture with Paramount – TRUE CRIME UK, Evidence of Evil and Bloodline Detectives – plus two further channel brands, Love After Lock Up and AMC Reality.

These new arrivals build on AMCNI UK’s existing portfolio on Freely, which features LEGEND, TRUE CRIME, and WATCH FREE UK.

This follows the recent launch of new streaming channels from Channel 4, including 4Reality, 4Homes and 4Life, which are now available exclusively on Freely. Additional streaming channels from ITV and 5 are expected to follow, as the platform continues to expand its live and on-demand offering.

Discussing the new arrivals, Everyone TV CEO Jonathan Thompson said: "This latest round of content partners marks another step forward for Freely as we scale up the platform for viewers and partners alike.

"The research we’re releasing today shows just how much audiences still value British free-to-air television – not just the flagship channels, but the wider family of channels that continue to surprise and entertain us. Freely brings all of that together in one place, for free, and it’s exciting to see the momentum behind it as we look to the year ahead."