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The BBC’s Controller of Digital Transition, Helen Burrows, has confirmed that the corporation is “exploring the idea” of building its own UK set-top-box device to support the new broadband-based live TV streaming service, Freely, which until recently lacked any support among existing steaming boxes and sticks.
Freely, which first launched in April 2024 (here), is not currently being pushed as a replacement for the ageing terrestrial Freeview (inc. Freeview Play) and satellite-based Freesat TV platforms and should, at least for now, be seen as more of a complement – a different kind of service that helps to make broadcast TV more accessible. The change is important because the age of traditional terrestrial TV signals, which came via the airwaves, is expected to gradually come to an end as gigabit broadband nears almost universal UK coverage by 2032 (currently c.88%).
However, much as we’ve said before, one of the biggest roadblocks to adoption of Freely’s platform today remains its limited availability, which has seen the new service deployed across a variety of new TV sets but not much else (some major TV manufacturers are also still missing from their supported device list). But customers of most existing internet-connected TVs, as well as popular TV streaming boxes and sticks, have all been excluded.
The good news is that the above situation did recently start to change after French company Netgem revealed (here) that they were due to release a new IPTV box, both at retail and for their existing ISP partners, during Q4 2025 (such boxes are typically bundled by broadband ISPs like Brsk, TalkTalk, CommunityFibre, Wightfibre and others). A new box is needed because it apparently required a “significant software upgrade that needs the very latest chipsets to run,” which would seem to be debatable, but we don’t know the specifics.
The latest development on this front came after the BBC published a new policy document (Socioeconomic Impact of Digital Transition), which among other things seemed to get more specific about the BBC developing a “new streaming media device” for Freely and would be “designed with accessibility in mind and a radically simple user interface specifically designed to help those currently underserved by digital services.”
Helen Burrows, BBC Controller of Digital Transition, said:
“The BBC believes that TV has a role to play in any transition to a fully digital society. A managed switchover to IPTV, with an intervention to help digitally excluded groups get connected and build digital skills, could be a catalyst to help realise these wider social and economic benefits.
The transition to digital in the TV sector is already happening:
- Today, 85% (23m) of the UK’s TV homes are connected, meaning some or all of their viewing is online. This is forecast to rise to 97% in 2034 (3Reasons, Spring 2025) absent any market interventions.
- Almost a quarter of UK homes (7m) now watch TV exclusively via the internet and a tipping point is projected to be reached in 2029 when over 50% of homes will watch TV this way (3Reasons, Spring 2025).
- Audiences who watch TV via the internet are receiving a better service that offers more choice, convenience, higher quality video and improved accessibility features for those who need them.
- Given these viewer shifts and market dynamics, the BBC is advocating for a transition to an all-IPTV future in the 2030s.
To help ensure that all audiences can benefit from the transition and that the principle of universality is maintained, the BBC is exploring ways it can support audiences to access IPTV, building on the support we gave to create the easy-to-use free streaming TV platform Freely. For example, the BBC is exploring the idea of a new streaming media device, designed with accessibility in mind and a radically simple user interface specifically designed to help those currently underserved by digital services.”
The idea was actually first hinted at in May 2025 when the Director General of the BBC, Tim Davie, appeared to indicate that Freely was “considering” the development of a streaming media device (here). We and many others had assumed that the BBC, which doesn’t normally build consumer kit itself, was speaking in its capacity as a primary custodian of Freely and this seemed to be supported by Netgem’s recent announcement. But we were wrong.
Cord Busters has been able to confirm that the BBC’s proposed development is a “separate thing” from Netgem’s announcement (two different projects), although it’s important to highlight that they do use the phrase “exploring the idea” above (i.e. it’s still very tentative). Developing their own Freely kit would be a major and costly step for the BBC to take and one that could place them into an awkward position in terms of market competition, depending upon the details.
On the other hand, it’s already been established that the transition from Freeview to IPTV can be more of a challenge for older and vulnerable users to adapt to, which is a market that may not be well catered for by the commercial sector (modern ‘User Interfaces’ can be tedious even for regular users to navigate). In that sense, developing a Freely box that behaves more like a traditional TV for vulnerable users does make sense.
However, at the end of the day, Freely’s adoption – even with a new box from the BBC – is likely to remain limited until the service arrives on popular streaming devices from Amazon, Google and Roku etc. But so far there doesn’t appear to be much indication of when or even if that will actually happen, and doing so looks as if it might require some device changes (new kit may be needed).