Freesat’s Freetime extends to terrestrial with Panasonic deal

Panasonic has struck an agreement with UK free to air satellite platform Freesat to embed the latter’s advanced TV platform Freetime in its smart TVs, creating the first free connected TV service across satellite and terrestrial networks.

The deal will see Freetime made available in new Panasonic Viera smart TVs, allowing both Freesat and digital-terrestrial TV viewers to benefit from Freetime’s offering.

Panasonic Viera owners will be able to access UK free to air on-demand services including BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5.

“We’ve had a long standing relationship with Freesat and I’m really excited that we are the first manufacturer to have the Freetime service on our TVs,” said Craig Cunningham, Panasonic’s product manager.