The chair of Digital UK has described a successful launch to the connected Freeview Play DTT extension.
In its annual report Delivering Connected TV for Everyone Caroline Thomson said the Freeview Play had made access to new services easier for everyone. “With growing support from manufacturers and content providers, our next task is to work with our partners to extend the benefits of a consistent on-demand offering to everyone,” she said.
No figures have been released on the take-up of Freeview Play but 20 million UK households already watch Freeview.
The first Freeview Play products were launched by Panasonic and Humax in October 2015. So far this year LG has enabled the service on the vast majority of its 2016 range with Vestel currently going through a similar process.
“Direct feedback from viewers has also been encouraging, indicating that they greatly appreciate the simplicity and value delivered by the service. We are currently working with a range of additional manufacturing partners who will be launching new TVs, digital recorders and set-top boxes later this year and early in 2017,” added technology director James Jackson.
Earlier this week Humax announced plans to upgrade its FVP-4000T Freeview Play HD PVR product with a redesigned user interface on the home page and improved EPG performance.
Johnson says there are plans to add viewing recommendations and new features such as search.