What can you get with Freeview?
Long gone are the days of only having five TV channels to watch in the UK. With Freeview, you can get 70, including BBC One and Sky News. Here’s our rundown of what channels you can get on Freeview, along with how it works and how to get Freeview with a broadband and TV package.
Long gone are the days of only having five TV channels to watch in the UK. With Freeview, you can get 70, including BBC One and Sky News. Here’s our rundown of what channels you can get on Freeview, along with how it works and how to get Freeview with a broadband and TV package.
What is Freeview?
Freeview is the UK’s digital terrestrial TV service. Since the digital switchover in 2012, it’s been the main way to watch television and is now used by 18 million households. Freeview lets you watch and listen to the nation’s most popular TV and radio channels, including BBC One, ITV, Channel 4 and Radio 2.
As the name suggests, Freeview is free, but you’ll need an aerial and a TV licence to get it – not to mention a screen to watch it on of course.
As there’s no monthly fee or contract to sign, you won’t be tied to a subscription package to watch Freeview TV. But it doesn’t have as much choice as pay TV services from the likes of Sky, Virgin Media and BT.
How does Freeview work?
TVs made and bought after 2010 already have Freeview built into them, so there’s no need to buy a set-top box. To watch live TV, all you need to do is connect to an aerial that’s in good working order.
If you want a few more features, like the option to pause, rewind and record live TV, you can pay to upgrade to a Freeview HD or Freeview Play recorder. With Freeview Play, you can also connect to the internet to access catch-up and on-demand content from various services, including BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and All 4. For this, you’ll need an internet connection of at least 2Mpbs (megabits per second).
If you want to watch your favourite shows on the go, you can download the Freeview app to your smartphone or tablet device. This way, you’ll never have to miss an episode of Pointless or Hollyoaks if you’re travelling home from work on the train.
What channels does Freeview have?
You can get 70 TV channels, and 30 radio stations with Freeview television, plus interactive features via the Red Button. And if you have a Freeview HD television or recorder, you can get 15 HD channels too.
The exact number of channels you get though will depend on your signal and where in the country you live.
The list of Freeview channels available includes:
Entertainment and lifestyle
- BBC One
- BBC Two
- ITV
- Channel 4
- Channel 5
- ITV2
- BBC Four
- ITV3
- Sky Arts
- Quest
- E4
- Film4
- Channel 4+1
- Really
- More 4
- Dave
- Drama
- 5USA
- Dave Ja Vu
- ITV4
- Yesterday
- ITVBe
- ITV2+1
- E4+1
- 4Music
- 5Star
- Paramount Network
- Sony Movies
- ITV+1
- Pick
- DMAX
- Quest Red
- CBS Justice
- Sony Movies Action
- Food Network
- HGTV
- Channel 5+1
- Film4+1
- Challenge
- 4seven
- Sony Channel
- Sony Movies Classic
- 5Select
- Smithsonian Channel
- ITVBe+1
- ITV3+1
- ITV4+1
- Sony Movies+1
- Blaze
- TBN UK
- CBS Reality
- CBS Drama
- Horror Channel
- Quest+1
- Quest Red+1
- Drama+1
- Yesterday+1
- Now 80s
- TCC
- Blaze+1
- TalkingPictures TV
- Together TV
- Together TV+1
- PBS America
- More4+1
- PBS America +1
- Court TV
- Forces TV
- Freeview
News and sport
- BBC News
- BBC Parliament
- Sky News
- RT
- Al Jazeera
- FreeSports
Children
- CBBC
- CBeebies
- CITV
- Pop
- Tiny Pop
- Ketchup TV
- Yaaas!
Shopping
- QVC
- Ideal World
- QVC Beauty
- QVC Style
- TJC
- Gems TV
- Jewellery Maker
- Shopping Quarter
- Hochanda
- Ideal Extra
- Create and Craft
Regional
- S4C
- BBC Alba
- Local TV
- That’s TV
- TG4
- RTE One
- RTE Two
Radio
- Radio 1
- Radio 1Xtra
- Radio 2
- Radio 3
- Radio 4
- Radio 5 Live
- Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
- Radio 6 Music
- Radio 4 Extra
- BBC Asian Network
- BBC World Service
- Hits Radio
- Kiss
- Magic
- Greatest Hits Radio
- Kerrang!
- Smooth Radio
- BBC Local Radio
- TalkSport
- Capital FM
- Premier Christian Radio
- Absolute Radio
- Heart
- Classic FM
- LBC
Broadband and TV packages with Freeview
Several broadband providers offer Freeview as part of their combined broadband and TV packages. You can either get a basic package, made up of the Freeview channels alone, or choose an even more comprehensive plan with premium sport, movie and entertainment channels added to your bundle.
For example, you can’t get the likes of Sky One, Sky Atlantic, Comedy Central, Gold, Fox or BT Sport on Freeview, so if you’re a big satellite and cable TV watcher, it might save you money to combine a more advanced TV package with your broadband, rather than paying for them separately.
If your viewing habits are based largely around streaming services like Netflix, NOW TV, Disney+ and Amazon Prime, you could opt for a combination of streaming subscriptions and Freeview TV channels. That will still give you access to some live TV and terrestrial channels, but won’t swamp you with hundreds of satellite channels you might never watch.
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