Japanese manufacturer Panasonic has announced a deal which will see Freesat’s Freetime service available in new Panasonic VIERA smart TVs.
Owners of the new range of Panasonic VIERA TVs will be able to use Freetime to roll back their TV guide for the past seven days, access all the major On Demand services including BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5, and receive daily programme recommendations.
Since launch in September 2012, Freetime boxes now account for over 40% of all Freesat set-top box sales.
Panasonic’s TV product manager Craig Cunningham said: “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. Research tells us that when it comes to smart TVs consumers want three things: the best content available, ease of use and flexibility. The Freetime service delivers on all of these aspects and more and when combined with our heritage in picture quality it’s a great combination.”
Freesat’s managing director Emma Scott commented: “We are delighted that Panasonic has chosen the award-winning Freetime service for its 2014 VIERA TV range and placed it at the heart of free-to-air TV in the UK.
“For such an important global brand as Panasonic to choose Freesat’s Freetime is proof positive of the clear consumer benefits of our service. This is a fantastic acknowledgement of a great British media technology success story and this deal opens up exciting new territories for us. We have enjoyed a strong working relationship with Panasonic over the past six years – Panasonic was the first manufacturer to launch IDTVs with Freesat built in, so the deal for Freetime is a natural and exciting evolution of our partnership.”
Freesat’s added 31,000 new homes following Q4 13, taking its base to over 1.8m.
