The UK’s Freesat has been cleared by the BBC Trust to offer live pay sports delivered via broadband.
Commenting on the development, Alistair Thom, MD of Freesat, said: “This is a really important development for Freesat which will significantly impact our content offering. We’re here to provide a compelling subscription-free TV service, and believe our viewers should have the option to watch a wide variety of TV programmes and events without being tied down to a contract. We will continue innovating to provide a brilliant, subscription-free service for our ever-growing number of viewers.”
Freesat is jointly owned by the BBC and ITV and required the approval of the BBC Trust before adding live pay sports coverage to its offer.
The satellite platform offers over 200 TV channels and is now available in over 1.93 million households, being watched by more than 4 million viewers every week.