YouView: 'Next Generation Of FreeView' Launches In London, Box To Cost £299

Next-Gen Freeview Launched In London - But It's Not Free

The next generation of freeview has been unveiled - almost two years behind schedule.

YouView, an online set-top box which includes apps, catch-up TV services and digital recording, will launch at the end of July.

The Humax-branded box will cost £299, though cheaper versions will follow including some which will be subsidised.

The box will show live TV, as well as apps, catch-up services and some SKy shows, but will not require a subscription.

It was unveiled by Lord Alan Sugar in London, who said it would provide "extraordinary TV for everyone".

Lord Sugar, brought it as non-executive chairman of YouView in 2011 to either fix or end the project, said: "It’s with great pleasure that we announce that YouView will be available from major retailers later this month. Our intention with this simple–to-use box is to provide extraordinary TV for everyone, with on-demand services combined with TV channels with an opportunity to search back an entire week to catch what they’ve missed. It’s a whole new way of experiencing TV."

The company is backed by the BBC and includes ITV, Channel 4, Channel Five, TalkTalk, Aqiva and BT among its shareholders.

It was originally scheduled to launch in 2010, but has been delayed by technical hitches.

Analysts said that in the time between its scheduled launch and now, other services have caught up.

Olivier Wolf, of Greenwich Consulting, told the Telegraph: "Had this launched in 2010, the service would have been a clear success. Today, YouView is launching to a very different market, in which all consumers have moved to Digital Terrestrial Television and many of them already subscribe to various OTT services. Getting them to buy into a whole new service will be no mean-feat."

The YouView project has cost about £70m to date, with £10m spent by the BBC via the licence fee.

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