TWO extra channels will soon be added to Freeview TVs, just days after the broadcaster rolled out a mega upgrade to boxes.
Earlier this week, Ofcom handed out broadcasting licences to two hybrid streaming services.
Euronews and Trace Music will be available on compatible internet connected Freeview and Freely TVs.
The hybrid streaming services can only run on TVs that are connected to both an aerial and Wi-Fi.
Euronews and Trace Music will join the official channel guide in the coming weeks.
For now, the pair are hidden inside the Channelbox portal on Freeview 271 and Freely channel 561.
Just last week, Freeview watchers gained 15 brand new channels inside Freeview Play – which holds all your on-demand apps.
Channel 5 has just relaunched its main TV station and streaming service under one name, simply the numerical 5.
And as part of it the overhaul, the broadcaster has introduced 15 extra channels.
5 owner Paramount is including some content you might expect to pay for on Sky or Virgin Media.
Here’s the full list of channels:
- Police Interceptors
- 5 Cops
- GPs Behind Closed Doors
- 5 History
- Trucking Hell
- 5 Crime
- 5 A&E
- Bargain Loving Brits
- Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly
- The Yorkshire Vet
- Geordie Shore
- Catfish
- Teen Mom
- MTV Reality
- Milkshake!
It means Freeview watchers have pocketed an extra 17 TV channels in a matter of days.
Although these won’t be ready to watch on your telly straight away.
They are currently rolling out, and may take a few days to weeks to become available.
Updates should land on your device automatically given that Freely and hybrid Freeview TVs already rely on an internet connection.
But if you think something may have gone wrong and want to manually check for an update you can.
Follow these steps:
- Go to Settings on your TV
- Look for Software Update
“Make sure your TV stays on until the update is over,” Freely says.
To rescan your channels, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings
- Select Channel or similar
- Select Auto Scan and follow the on-screen instructions
If that doesn’t work, watchers could restart their TV by turning it off and unplugging it.
Viewers should wait five minutes and plug the TV back in.
Top Channel 5 dramas
Channel 5 has become a hub for gripping drama, these are some of the best My5 has to offer.
- All Creatures Great and Small – Based on the best-selling novels by real-life vet Alf Wright, the show revolves around a trio of vets working in the Yorkshire Dales in the late 1930s. Eccentric Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West) hires James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) for his veterinary practice at Skeldale House alongside himself and his younger brother Tristan (Callum Woodhouse). There James settles into his new life and even finds love with local farmer’s daughter Helen (Rachel Shenton).
- The Ex-Wife – New parents Tasha (Céline Buckens) and Jack (Tom Misson) seem to have the perfect life, but the constant presence of Jack’s overly friendly but suspicious ex-wife Jen (Janet Montgomery) puts pressure on the couple. But as the series progresses it becomes less clear who the bad guy really is and how far everyone will go to get the life they think they deserve.
- Heat – EastEnders alum Danny Dyer leads this four-part action thriller, set in Australia, which sees two families holidaying together during bushfire season. But instead of rest and relaxation, secrets and lies start to unravel — and not everyone will make it out alive…
- Lie With Me – Another soap legend jets off to Australia, this time its EastEnders alum Charlie Brooks who takes as a married woman trying to saving her marriage by moving halfway around the world after her husband had an affair. However it’s far from plain sailing, as a young and attractive live-in nanny comes to work with the Fallmont family, and tensions soon build and eventually, someone ends up dead.
- The Drowning – Jill Halfpenny plays Jodie, a woman whose life is shattered following the disappearance of her beloved four-year-old son, Daniel. However, ten years later, the grieving mother thinks she’s finally found her missing child, and embarks on a journey to discover the truth about him. But has she really just found the son she has been missing for so long?
