So, is it all over for our national broadcasters like the BBC and ITV? Not so fast
With Freely, public service broadcasters are taking on streaming platforms at their own game — and winning!
This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.
Nearly a decade ago, I found myself sitting next to Lord Puttnam at a breakfast event launching an inquiry into the future of public service television. The revered film producer delivered an impassioned plea for the preservation of linear broadcasting and all that came with it. What would we miss without it, I asked him? It’s like any meal, he replied: “We all like our puddings, but we need our greens.”
Today, those puddings are everywhere, with streaming platforms offering an unrestricted buffet of everything from dramas to true crime to fawning sports documentaries and, er, more true crime. In July, Ofcom reported that YouTube is now the UK’s second most-watched media service, behind only the BBC, and the US behemoth Netflix continues to be the byword for glossy, easily bingeable content on an easy-to-navigate platform.
So is it all over for our national broadcasters? Not so fast. Earlier this month, Everyone TV – the company that runs the public service broadcasters’ free-to-view TV platforms – celebrated the first anniversary of its own streaming service, Freely. With more than half a million weekly users, Freely is on course to become the UK’s leading TV platform within five years. It is already pre-installed on half of all new TV sets sold in the UK. More notably, its largest group of early adopters comes from the notoriously hard-to-reach 16–34-year-old demographic.
Why does this matter? Everyone TV simultaneously shared the findings of an independent report that reveals that, when it comes to watching TV together, we still turn to the national broadcasters, whether that be for shows such as The Traitors and The Great British Bake Off or events like the final of the Women’s Euros (2025’s biggest TV audience so far).
Equally, when it comes to choosing “moments that matter” and “driving the national conversation”, it’s the BBC’s Gavin & Stacey and ITV’s Mr Bates vs the Post Office respectively that stay in people’s minds long after a slain zombie or an avenging dragon.
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And while Netflix and Amazon Prime compete to see how many ways they can have someone rich and beautiful murdered or betrayed in the Hamptons, most of us trust our national broadcasters to more accurately reflect our own lives – particularly those of us who are from outside London and are on lower incomes – and to make us feel connected as a nation. Meanwhile, when it comes to viewers’ trust, the weather-beaten BBC still enjoys a 69 per cent vote compared with social media posters’ meagre 29 per cent.
One of the reasons that Freely has proved so popular is its shiny, accessible user interface. Yes, we can all find these same channels without such newfangled things, but presentation and branding matter as much as accessibility these days. A colleague’s children refuse to watch anything on iPlayer, let alone live linear TV. “It’s just not cool,” they complain. Conversely, our editor’s daughter brought him a new podcast she thought he would enjoy. Its title? Desert Island Discs.
It’s understandable. Every generation wants to find their own front door to their cultural favourites – I felt the same about the treasures stowed away in my Sony Walkman. But it’s encouraging that, in an act of cultural kung fu, our public service broadcasters are using the streamers’ own tricks to take them on.
They may not win the war of persuading the next generation to look up from their phones for more than a passing moment, but at least the battle is being fought. It’s a battle for hearts – and greens.
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