As Australian free to air broadcasters lobby the Labor Federal Government, to try and save them from popular streaming services, UK broadcaster have taken a different approach, that does not involve asking a government to get involved in commercial TV issues.

Facing the same streaming pressures as their Australian counterparts the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have moved to develop a platform to deliver live TV over broadband, as opposed to an aerial.

The move will end the need for an TV aerial with manufacturers of TV’s able to sell cheaper display screens in the future without a costly TV tuner.

The new service — called Freely — will be built into the next generation of smart display panels a move that will benefit panel manufacturers such as Samsung, TCL, Sony and LG who in Australia could be forced to priortise free to air TV channels over the likes of Kayo, Foxtel, Netflix, Binge, Stan, Disney or Amazon Prime apps.

The service will also include a program guide.

The service is expected to be introduced in new UK TVs from next year, however it will not be available in older sets.

UK viewers will be able to watch live TV channels alongside on-demand content streamed to smart TVs via the internet, without the Government being asked to introduce legislation in an effort to protect free to air TV services, which consumers are dumping at a rapid rate of knots in Australia due in part to poor content and the commercialisation of shows such as the Block which is more about spruiking paid for services than producing an entertaining show claim reviewers of the latest Block show.

UK TV viewers can currently watch live broadcasts over broadband through broadcasters’ individual apps but there is no electronic programme guide access.

Live TV delivers more than half of all viewing in the UK, according to Barb viewing data in 2022.

Tim Davie, director-general of the BBC, told the Financial Times that “ensuring the universality of public-service television is sustained into the future is of paramount importance to the UK and all its public service broadcasters”.

Freely is being developed by Everyone TV, the organisation that runs free TV in the UK and is jointly owned by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

Locally Free TV Australia, which represents the free to air TV broadcasters, including the ABC, SBS, Nine, Seven and Ten have chosen to lobby Government to intervene in their loss of viewers as opposed to developing an acceptable commercial solution.

The UK broadcasters have agreed a three-year funding deal for Everyone TV that will cover the launch costs of the service, which will require a consumer marketing campaign.

Everyone TV chief executive Jonathan Thompson said the service was a “reflection of the fact that a growing number of UK viewers are watching content online, but still want easy access to the shared experience of live TV”.

Thompson said that about 15 per cent of homes did not plug their TVs into an aerial — preferring to use broadband to watch via apps.

This number is forecast to grow to 50 per cent by the end of the decade. These homes are unable to access the free live channels available over the aerial via the programme guide.

“In essence, we’re filling that gap. We’re offering a service to manufacturers that they will embed into their TV so when you go to the live TV experience, you will get a very familiar, aggregated experience but being streamed over the internet.”

Thompson said that the online services would have added functions — for example, allowing the watcher to see more details of a programme.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Dame Carolyn McCall, chief executive of ITV, said that “as more and more UK households use internet-connected TVs, it’s critical that the public service broadcaster channels remain available and easy for them to find”.

She added: “This new collaboration enables the UK public to continue to get all of their favourite British TV channels, for free — just as Freeview did at the advent of digital TV. Alongside the important reforms set out in the draft media bill it will help PSBs to continue to thrive for years to come.”

The service has greater significance given the growing popularity of large tech groups and streaming platforms such as Amazon and Netflix that has seen a shift away from people watching TV in a traditional, linear way.

Alex Mahon, chief executive of Channel 4, said that “when the media bill’s prominence provisions become law, the technology to make Britain’s favourite TV shows easy to find will already be in place”.