Outside the Box: growth in IP-only homes highlights need for Freely

Freely on Hisense (Source: Freely)

The growth in IP-only homes that do not connect their main TV screen to any other input such as a terrestrial aerial means that broadcasters need to move fast to secure their future, irrespective of changes in the use of spectrum.

That at least was the message conveyed by a panel discussing the launch of the UK’s new free-to-view platform Freely at the Outside the Box 2024 event in London this morning.

Analyst Garazi Goia, media and entertainment lead EMEA, FTI Delta,  said that 50% of UK homes will be “IP only by 2030”, meaning that Freely will have a key role “managing and protecting” the businesses of free-to-air broadcasters.

“Freely could be seen as best practice for European broadcasters,” she said. “Most countries look up to the UK when it comes to free-to-air broadcasting and innovation in that area.”

Howard Grindrod, VP, Hisense UK, the first manufacturer to sign up to make Freely TV sets, said that Freely “represents a major contributor to our success” going forwards. He said that Hisense had been involved in Freeview and Freeview Play, which provided an ecosystem for the company to provide content for the UK market, even before it launched products.

“Freely provides an ecosystem for the next generation of our TV sets and we are providing Freely with a lot of boxes in the market,” he said.

Also speaking on the panel, Jonathan Newman, GM commercial BBC Studios UK distribution and UKTV, said that Freely built on the successful partnership with Everyone TV built up through Freeview and Freesat. “Freely is a very timely evolution from that,” he said.

By launching on Freely, he said broadcasters such as UKTV will for the first time be able to bring all their channels and on demand services available in one place via IP.

It enabled broadcasters to reach IP-only homes, a growing proportion of the total, and helped his channels achieve prominence on the UI, he said.

“The Freely UI…is really exciting for us, with opportunities to showcase some of our best content on the home page,” he said.

Another key opportunity is around advertising, with the ability to deliver more targeted advertising, he said.

Newman said that UKTV had challenges reaching homes via IP-only homes and had also been challenged by inconsisting branding. The outfit’s new U brand, coincing with the launch of Freely, would enable the new brand “U come to life”

Jonathan Thompson, CEO, Everyone TV, which is leading the development of Freely, said the platform’s partners would work together at launch on a joint marketing campaign.

Thompson said not connecting TVs to an aerial was now becoming mainstream, with up to four million homes now in this position. “There are hundreds of different reasons – it is more than a niche for younger audiences,” he said.

Goia said that all broadcasters across Europe share a “sense of jeopardy” about this trend. “There is an urgency to act, fast which is consistent everywhere,” she said.