UK broadcasters' streaming service Freely to join Amazon Fire line-up

Freely – the free, live and on-demand TV streaming service backed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 – is set to arrive on Amazon Fire this autumn.

The deal, signed by Amazon and Freely owner Everyone TV, means that audiences will be able to stream content from BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 on Amazon Fire TV smart TVs and other smart TVs with Fire TV OS built in.

Marion Ranchet, European media analyst and founder of Streaming Made Easy, has called the deal “a real win for UK broadcasters”.

She said: “This is a real win for UK broadcasters and a step in the right direction to ensuring that global players understand the unique markets they are operating in within Europe. 

“European audiences value the content from their national broadcasters and Freely is an important collaboration for UK viewers to get easy access to that content, no matter how they choose to connect their TVs.”

Freely launched in May this year as part of UK public service broadcasters’ bid to compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime and reach the rising number of people who only watch TV over broadband.

It collects all of the PSBs streamable content under a single app designed as a single viewing destination that viewers browse akin to other streaming services.

Speaking about the Amazon Fire deal Jonathan Thompson, chief executive of Everyone TV, said: “A deal of this kind, between a technology giant and those working in the public interest, is remarkable. It represents a significant development in widening the availability of Freely and therefore ensuring UK audiences can access free TV well into the future.”

As well as Amazon Fire, Freely is available on Hisense, Bush, Toshiba, Panasonic and Tivo 2024 4K smart TVs.

More smart TV, OS providers and content partners for Freely are set to be announced.