The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 have entered into a new Digital UK members’ agreement, marking the first time that the venture has been wholly owned by all four PSBs.
ViacomCBS-owned Channel 5 joins Digital UK with immediate effect.
Earlier this year Digital UK merged with Freesat (UK) Ltd, bringing the two free-to-air organisations together and aligning technical developents across the two platforms.
Caroline Thomson, Chair of Digital UK said: “The future of free-to-view television is critical to providing all UK viewers with high-quality British content and we look forward to working with all public service broadcasters to develop and deliver continually evolving and compelling free TV services across Freeview and Freesat.”
Sarah Rose, Chief Commercial & Operations Officer, ViacomCBS UK, added: “We’re delighted Channel 5 has joined the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 to help shape the future of free-to-view TV as part of Digital UK. Channel 5 plays a distinctive role in public service broadcasting in the UK and, as part of ViacomCBS can bring a unique perspective to the opportunities that lie ahead.
Freeview and Freesat bring together the best of the UK’s free content, live and on-demand, from leading broadcasters, including the UK PSBs. Freeview Play is available on the majority of smart TVs sold in the UK and features 30,000 hours of on-demand content while Freesat’s 4K TV Boxes are recordable and provide 100% coverage.
