YouView

YouView TV Ltd
FormerlyCanvas Pro Tem Limited (July–September 2010)[1]
Company typeLimited company
IndustryTelevision broadcasting
PredecessorProject Canvas
Founded16 September 2010; 14 years ago (2010-09-16) in London, England
Founder
HeadquartersLondon, England
Area served
United Kingdom
Key people
Simon Duffy, Chairman
Products
Services
Owner
Websiteyouview.com

YouView TV Ltd is a British media company, a partnership of four broadcasters: the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5; and two telecommunications operators, BT Group and TalkTalk Group (formerly also Arqiva). It launched in 2012 the hybrid television platform named YouView,[2] which was formed from an ambitious project between the UK's four terrestrial broadcasters originally titled Project Canvas.[3]

The YouView service was developed as an open platform to combine free-to-air digital terrestrial television (DTT) channels from Freeview using an aerial connection, with TV on demand ("catch-up TV") services using a broadband internet connection, without any subscription. YouView PVR set-top boxes have been sold at retail or built into certain Sony Bravia TV sets. The software has most notably been used by BT and TalkTalk for use on their subscription services BT TV, Plusnet TV, and TalkTalk TV.[4]

Though originally intending to compete against Freeview and Freesat, YouView as an independent retail product struggled to take off, with BT and TalkTalk becoming its main beneficiaries. This led to the broadcasters launching the similar Freeview Play platform in 2015.[5] In recent years, YouView has streamlined itself and has worked with both BT and TalkTalk to support their IPTV platforms[4] while the broadcasters have since come together as Everyone TV.[6] In December 2023, YouView said it was working with Everyone TV to help launch the new Freely service.[7]

  1. ^ "YouView TV Ltd overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  2. ^ Burrell, Ian (4 November 2014). "Once-troubled YouView is now breaking good". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Project Canvas: TV's next evolution?". Digital Spy. 2 July 2010.
  4. ^ a b RXTV-Newsdesk_ (28 February 2024). "What happened to YouView, the former next-gen Freeview platform?". RXTV. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  5. ^ "YouView to stay until 2024". Broadband TV News. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  6. ^ Jackson, Mark (4 March 2022). "ISPs BT and TalkTalk Sign UK TV Deal to Keep YouView Until 2024 UPDATE". ISPreview UK. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  7. ^ "YouView | YouView proud to be working with Everyone TV and the Public Service Broadcasters to launch Freely". www.youview.com. Retrieved 24 May 2024.