With the rise of Netflix and other on-demand streaming services, UK television networks are facing competition that hadn’t existed before. Now, there’s a fight to justify the TV licence fee in the country, when people have access to a wealth of content from other providers for reasonably low subscription fees.
In 2024, Freely was released as a solution to this problem, with BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5 teaming up to provide live and on-demand content on a unified platform. However, it’s difficult for Freely to contend with the funding that the big players in the industry have.
UK Operators Embracing the Need to Offer On-Demand Content
The days of leafing through the TV Times to find out what’s on are long gone. Today’s entertainment users are becoming increasingly conditioned to find everything they’re looking for in one place on demand. Netflix was a leading pioneer in this regard, giving users access to thousands of television series and films whenever they wanted to watch them. What’s more, it cut out adverts and waiting time between episodes.
The success of Netflix led many other services to crop up, and now people in the UK have a choice between the likes of Amazon Prime, HBO Max, and Apple TV+ as well. The concept of all-in-one entertainment platforms spans beyond television as well, with the online casino industry also flourishing in the UK. When people play roulette online, for instance, they are faced with various options such as Lightning Roulette and Mega Fire Blaze Roulette, which are ready and waiting for players to play whenever they want.
Freely Needs to Expand Its Reach on Other Devices
Freely emerged last year because UK providers realised they needed to jump on this trend or risk being left behind. The service offers a mix of live and on-demand content but, because it is free to UK users, it is supported with adverts. Freely is currently only available on smart televisions and set-top boxes, having partnered with Roku and Amazon Fire devices early on.
However, for Freely to grow and compete in a fiercely competitive streaming landscape, it may need to broaden its device compatibility. A lot of users access streaming services through tablets and smartphones now, and it’s important to be able to reach this market as well.
Hard to Compete with the Might of the Streaming Giants
Regardless of whether Freely manages to expand beyond smart TVs or not, it may be hard for it to compete with the giants in the long run. The main players in the business pour billions into their exclusive programming, with Amazon Prime famously spending $1 billion on the first two seasons of The Rings of Power alone.
These major services are also available in hundreds of countries, while Freely is only open to UK viewers. That means that they can rake in much higher amounts in subscription fees, enabling them to recycle this into funding for high-budget content.
Freely is a novel idea and one that’s certainly needed in the age of on-demand content. However, it’s highly unlikely that it will be able to compete with Netflix and other leaders in the industry.
