YouView to launch next week, questions remain

Following months of delays and predictions that YouView would launch after the Olympics, the connected TV service for the UK market will be unveiled next week.

Earlier this week, Marc Watson, the chief of BT Vision and YouView board member claimed that failing to launch before the Olympics would be “no big deal”, but YouView has now announced a July 4 launch date. How widely available the boxes will be before the Olympics remains to be seen, as do the exact services that will be offered from launch.

YouView is a joint-venture project to deliver Freeview TV and online services to dedicated set-top boxes, with stakeholders including BBC, ITV, Channel Four, Five, BT, TalkTalk and Arqiva. The service is currently undergoing consumer testing.