The Future Of Linear Television
As of 2025 some new budget TVs made by Vestel (Bush, JVC, Sharp, Toshiba, Hitachi) do not include Freeview (DTT) receivers. They include Freely and some wireless device.
Freely is a British free-to-air IPTV service launched in 2024 by Everyone TV, a joint venture between the country's public broadcasters BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5. Freely streams television over a broadband internet connection and therefore does not require a television aerial, although an aerial can be additionally used to create a hybrid platform and allow the viewing of DTT channels not yet available on Freely.
You need a high speed internet connection to use this service. No internet, no TV.
The problem with streaming is it cannot be recorded. Not for technical reasons but for DRM (Digital Rights Management) issues. Thankfully most channels still broadcast on a schedule and it appears to be like traditional TV, but it might not always be like that. This allows the copyright holder complete control over when a program is shown, how long you can see it, and it may be removed at any time. This is wrong. With the BBC funded by the license fee WE should own the content because we paid for it already. We should be able to see it whenever we like. Let us record it.
OFCOM have beeen completely silent on this matter but it affects us all.
In the future without the ability to record, and this affects Sky Stream as well, the content owner controls everything and we have no ability to record or watch later.
At the moment Freely is a bit pathetic but as it improves it may eventually replace Freeview and in my opinion that is bad.
3rd May 2026 19:47, Posted by Michael.
The BBC License Fee
Based on the videos from Big Clive I thought I'd throw in my tuppence about the BBC License Fee.
As of 1st April 2026, the annual BBC TV Licence fee in the UK is £180 for colour, or £60.50 for black and white.
I used to think that the BBC was the best value television in the world but now I am not so sure. It was unforgivable when the free license fee for over 75s was cancelled. This stopped on August 1st 2020.
You may wish to sign this petition if you think free TV licenses for over 75s should be reinstated.
The Labour Party did not immmediately reinstate this benefit when they came to power in 2024.
For some people free to air television and the BBC in particular is their only window on the world and it should be available to entertain, educate and inform people who have worked hard all their lives.
The BBC generated a total group revenue of £5.9 billion in 2024/25, with £3.8 billion from the public licence fee and £2.2 billion from commercial activities.
My actual gripe is with the BBC License Enforcement run by the Government's favourite outsourcer, Capita, and their threatening letters to unoccupied properties, sometimes elderly people with dementia or people that do not use BBC services. Also the nonsense that you need a license fee to watch YouTube is unacceptable. I think Google would say something different about that.
Capita's contract to administer and enforce the TV licence fee for the BBC is worth £456m over five years (running from July 2022 to June 2027).
There were 25,550 convictions for licence fee evasion in 2024. Even if the maximum penalty was £1000 and each person had to buy a license at £180 that's a total revenue recovery of £30,090,000. Not worth the £91.2M cost per year. It's like a shop paying a secuirty guard £30k to prevent theft of £10k a year. Just stop it.
Also, when their "top talent" includes such disliked people like Gary Lineker and programmes that have clearly run their course like Casualty you have to question their decisions.
What would be the alternative? There is no login feature on Freeview. Advertising? Possibly. They do it often enough on other channels that show BBC content on subscription services e.g. U&Gold, Really, Quest, Great!, That's TV, Rewind etc.
Note: I pay my license fee diligently every year. Never take out a license near the end of the month. You'll lose a month the following year. Always take it out from the 1st day of the month. I wish someone had told me that when I took out mine.
3rd May 2026 16:00, Posted by Michael.