YouTube is to be placed within the programme guide of the free-to-air satellite broadcaster Freesat, the operator has announced.
Five years after launch, the BBC-ITV backed project has also passed its 3 millionth sale, adding an additional 55,00 sales in the third quarter of 2012, ahead of Sky (25,000 households) and BT Vision (20,000).
Emma Scott, Freesat’s managing director said: “Access to YouTube will soon be possible from the Freesat platform – the first time the service will be available from a free to air provider in the UK. The version of YouTube that will be launched is built on HTML5 and will be its very latest iteration offering a TV-optimised, visually stunning and fully interactive viewing experience”.
YouTube will be available on the newly launched Free Time platform. It already carries the BBC iPlayer and ITV Player with 4oD and Demand 5 slated for a later launch.
Launched last autumn, Freetime was built on a collection of European open standards for hybrid TV; including elements of OIPF and HbbTV and HTML 5.
