Freetime, Freesat’s smart TV package that lets viewers catch up on missed shows, has proved a hit with two in five customers now buying a Freetime box.
Aimed at customers who want subscription-free satellite TV with on-demand, Freetime comes with BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5 built into the programme guide.
As well as letting viewers effectively scroll back in time on certain channels, you can also access all of the PSB catch up apps from a separate on-demand menu, where you can also play with a YouTube app.
Read Recombu Digital’s guide to UK TV customer league tablesFreesat added 31,000 new homes to its customer base over the last three months, bringing its total customer base up to 1.8 million. The bargain-priced Humax HB-1000S has helped drive sales, accounting for one out of every three Freetime set top boxes.
The recently-launched Freetime app, which lets you set recordings from your iPhone and iPad, has also proven popular, racking up 130,000 downloads in its first two weeks.
Emma Scott, Freesat’s Managing Director, commented: “Freesat’s strong results in Q4 demonstrate the continued appeal of high quality TV without expensive contracts.
“This quarter we are particularly proud of the success of the Freetime catch-up box which has been extremely popular with new users and allows even more viewers to benefit from Freesat’s market-leading Freetime technology.
“We’re pleased to say that our strong momentum has continued into the New Year with continued growth in household penetration and the successful launch of the Freesat mobile app.”
Sales of Freesat’s Freetime set-top boxes have increased by 160 per cent year-on-year. This places Freesat at a strong fourth place in the UK TV market, above BT and relative newcomer TalkTalk.
As well as delivering HD broadcast channels via satellite, Freetime delivers catch-up content over a broadband connection.
Whil you can only get Freetime from Freesat through a set top box at the moment, the company is looking at launching smart TVs with Freetime built in. Recently, the BBC launched a pair of new apps on Freetime, BBC News and BBC Sport.
Popular movie streaming service Netflix has also been tipped to join Freetime, but nothing’s been officially confirmed yet.
Watch our hands-on video with the Freetime iOS app below.
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