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June 2, 2026
Freely, the two-year-old free-to-air British streaming television service co-owned by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5, is projected to reach 10.5 million homes by 2034, according to new data from London-based 3 Reasons and presented by Everyone TV.
The Freely app, which offers access to live, linear channels and on-demand content from our public service broadcasters, is embedded in connected televisions from Hisense, Panasonic, Toshiba, Bush, TCL, and Panasonic sold in the U.K.
The 3 Reasons’ forecast shows that the number of U.K. homes without broadband is projected to fall to 220,000 by 2034, which equates to 0.8% of TV households.
The number of homes without broadband actually fell 30% and stands at 1.2 million today. The updated forecasts for homes without broadband in 2034 now represent around a quarter of the 800,000 originally forecast in a report for DCMS from 2024.
At the same time, separate Barb data shows the number of homes connecting their TV to the internet is also growing at pace, 84% today up from 66% in 2020.
Meanwhile, as viewers switch to viewing online and replace or upgrade existing TVs, the data suggests that the growing readiness of U.K. audiences for internet-delivered television.
“The way audiences engage with TV is changing and these updated forecasts reflect that clear direction of travel,” said Jonathan Thompson, CEO of Everyone TV. “It is vital that any future change in TV distribution is carefully planned and managed, that issues of connectivity and affordability are addressed, and that no viewer is left behind.”