Freeview is the United Kingdom's sole digital terrestrial television platform. It is operated by Everyone TV and DTV Services Ltd, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky. It was launched on 30 October 2002, taking over the licence from ITV Digital which collapsed that year. The service provides consumer access via an aerial to the seven DTT multiplexes covering the United Kingdom. As of July 2020, it has 85 TV channels, 26 digital radio channels, 10 HD channels, six text services, 11 streamed channels, and one interactive channel.
Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection of free-to-air, free-to-view and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channels for consumers as well as on-demand content. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most material viewed.
U&Yesterday is a British free-to-air television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It launched on 30 October 2002 as UK History and relaunched in its current format on 2 March 2009. It is available on satellite through Sky, Freesat and through the digital terrestrial provider Freeview. Hours on Freeview had previously been cut, with transmissions finishing at 6 pm, but were restored on 1 June 2010.
Challenge is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Sky Group's Sky UK subsidiary, themselves owned by American conglomerate Comcast. The channel is dedicated to game shows from the UK, including acquired classic and contemporary shows.
Pop is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited, targeting audiences aged 6 to 10. Launched on 29 May 2003 as Toons&Tunes by Chart Show Channels (CSC) Media Group, it later took on its current name and was sold to Sony Pictures Television, who in turn sold it and its local channels to Narrative Entertainment UK Limited in 2021.
Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Everyone TV. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Freesat offers a satellite alternative to the Freeview service on digital terrestrial television, with a broadly similar selection of channels available without subscription for users purchasing a receiver.
Trace Hits was a British free-to-air music channel owned by Trace Group.
Plus was a digital channel run by Granada Sky Broadcasting. It was launched on 1 October 1996 under the original name of Granada Plus, and during its availability it underwent successive rebrands as G Plus, G+ and then simply Plus. However, it remained widely referred to by the public at large by its original name. On 1 November 2004, it was permanently closed down by ITV plc in an attempt to bring its replacement, ITV3, onto Sky.
SmileTV is a range of British television channels owned by the Cellcast Group that broadcast various premium-rate telephone chat-line services.
Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former pay-television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news coverage of prominent criminal cases. In 2008, the original cable channel became TruTV.
Pop Max is a British free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. As of June 2014, it broadcasts cartoons, sci-fi, action and adventure series and anime on Sky and on Freeview. Its target audience is 6 to 15-year-olds.
Jackpot247 is an interactive gambling website owned by Betsson Group. From 2008 until 2019, the site had television segments on channels including ITV and Vox Africa. The "Challenge Jackpot" brand was dropped in September 2011 and was replaced by "Jackpot247" (Jackpot247.com). Challenge Jackpot was also a British interactive gaming channel owned by Living TV Group and operated by NetPlay TV. Its final programme was in the early hours of 1 July 2019 on ITV.
SuperCasino is a gambling television channel which aired on Channel 5, in the United Kingdom, from 2009 to 2018.
Gemporia is a British television and online retailer, licensed by Ofcom under the Gems TV name. The channel is mostly concerned with selling jewellery with a few lifestyle products from the homeware and beauty categories promoted in various slots across the schedule. The channel is available on Sky, Virgin Media, Freesat, Freeview and online. The channel operations are based at Eagle Road Studios in Redditch, near Birmingham. As of February 2023, the channel broadcast 24 hours a day, live between the hours of 07:00-23:00 on television, via the GEMPORIA mobile app, and online at gemporia.com. The business derives from Gems TV in Thailand.
Great! TV is a British-English language general entertainment channel in the United Kingdom owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. It originally launched as Sony Entertainment Television on 7 April 2011. However, it was closed on 6 February 2018 and replaced by Sony Crime Channel. It was brought back for a second time on 10 September 2019 when it replaced True Entertainment. The relaunched Sony Channel had different idents and programming than the former due to inheriting some programming from its predecessor True Entertainment and on 25 May 2021, following Narrative Capital's acquisition of Sony's channels, it was rebranded as Great! TV.
Sumo TV was a free-to-air television channel owned by Cellcast Group. On 1 July 2006, You TV was relabelled as Sumo TV. Sumo TV was officially launched on 28 November 2006, claiming to be the world's first user-content TV channel. Through their website and programming blocks on other TV channels, Sumo TV also had operations in America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with a showcase of local content.
Movie Mix was a television channel that was originally available through the Freeview platform, initially as a live-quiz service under the name of The Big Deal in July 2009 before being turned into a movie channel in December 2012.
