BBC to rival Sky with subscription-free UK TV box and 100s of channels

The BBC is calling for a new TV switch over, with its director-general targeting the 2030s to move traditional broadcasting to a streaming-only solution.

As part of this, he also revealed that the BBC is looking to release its own TV streaming device to rival the likes of Sky, featuring Freely at its heart.

As revealed in a speech by Tim Davie in Manchester yesterday: "We think now is the time to confirm an IP switchover in the 2030s, setting out the conditions and providing certainty to ensure success.

"To help, we want to double down on Freely as a universal free service to deliver live TV over broadband. And we are considering a streaming media device with Freely capabilities built in, with a radically simplified user interface specifically designed to help those yet to benefit from IP services."

Will the BBC's Freely box be powered by TiVo?

This follows news we brought you recently that TiVo also has plans for a set-top-box experience using Freely as the main broadcast service. Indeed, it might be one and the same, as TiVo revealed to me that it is in talks with partners to produce the box.

This could include the BBC and other providers.

The TiVo service, which is available on Bush TVs in the UK and will soon be part of a new lineup of Thomson sets, provides access to all of the main streaming services, while also giving access to linear broadcast TV channels through Freely and other FAST options.

It is similar to the Sky Glass and Sky Stream experience, but comes with no extra fees unless you subscribe to third-party streaming services, like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.

Its beauty is that you get the same kind of broadcast TV as Freeview over an aerial, but streamed via the 'net instead. And you have instant access to a vast amount of catch-up and on demand content.

It's conceivable that this is what the director-general referred to – it's certainly in a similar vein. And with Freely having the Beeb, ITV, Channel 4 and 5 among its partners, it does look to be the future of terrestrial TV.

It just needs to appear on more devices, as availability is currently limited. However, the service has recently announced new manufacturer support, with Philips and JVC set to offer Freely on new TVs from later this month, that does seem to be in the works.

Now the BBC has shown its hand, adoption could speed up.