Freely, the free streaming service formed by UK broadcasters, has gained a new distribution foothold. On Monday the service announced a deal to be integrated on smart TV’s running the Amazon Fire TV OS.
The Freely streaming platform was formed last year and officially launched in April 2024, backed by UK broadcasters BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. It brings together free live linear channels from the public broadcasters and on-demand content in an ad-supported streaming environment.
In announcing distribution, Everyone TV (the joint venture organization operated by the four public broadcasters behind Freely) called the agreement with Amazon a “landmark deal.”
For Freely is means expanded access and availability of the service for UK audiences.
Specifically, the deal mean Freely will be available this fall on Amazon Fire smart TVs in the UK and smart TVs from other OEMs that are running the Fire TV OS built-in. Per the announcement, the agreement doesn’t extend to portable Fire TV devices, meaning Freely won’t be available on external Fire TV dongles or streaming sticks.
The free streaming service will be available on Amazon’s Fire TV 2-Series, 4-Series and Omni Series. Also coming this fall, Freely will be available on new 2024 4K smart TVs running the Fire TV OS from TCL, under a partnership with the latter. And OEM Panasonic will incorporate Freely on premium OLED smart TVs with Fire TV OS this autumn. Panasonic already offers access to Freely through its 2024 4K smart TV sets that run use the TiVo OS.
“Panasonic recognizes how much UK viewers value content from national broadcasters, so we are delighted to be able to offer Freely to customers on our range of new FY24 TVs with Fire OS,” said Gareth Rayworth, managing director at Panasonic UK, in a statement. “A collaboration between Panasonic, Amazon Fire TV and Freely is a great result for viewers in the UK by combining a trusted and highly regarded TV brand, a modern and intuitive operating system, with the best free live and on demand TV, all in one place.”
Other existing OEM distribution partners for Freely include Hisense, Bush, and Toshiba. Everyone TV expects to still announce additional smart TV, OS provider and content partners for the free streaming service.
“It’s exciting to see the momentum behind Freely building so rapidly as we announce this breakthrough deal with Amazon Fire TV. A deal of this kind, between a technology giant and those working in the public interest, is remarkable,” said Jonathan Thompson, CEO at Everyone TV, in a statement. “It represents a significant development in widening the availability of Freely and therefore ensuring UK audiences can access free TV well into the future.”
Notably, access to Freely live linear streaming channels and on-demand content isn’t the only integration on Fire TVs. Everyone TV said that as part of the deal, Freely is also set to become the primary TV guide across Amazon Fire smart TVs and TVs with the Fire OS built-in.
“We're thrilled to be bringing Freely to Fire TV customers in the UK," said Emma Gilmartin, director of Fire TV Europe at Amazon, in a statement. "This new deal for Freely allows us to provide even more value to our customers by giving them easy access to the best free TV shows, films and live channels from UK broadcasters, alongside the great content they already enjoy on Fire TV."