Lord Sugar unveils YouView TV and on-demand service

YouView has been officially unveiled today combining freeview and on-demand content.


The set top box, to retail at near £300, was shown for the first time today at a launch attended by Lord Sugar who is the non-executive chairman of the project.  It is expected to be available throughout the country via the major retailers by the end of July.
YouView will give customers access to Freeview channels via an aerial and catch-up on the past seven days of TV through the on-demand service built in, which will include BBC’s iPlayer and 4 On Demand. The electronic programme guide will also allow users to scroll back to see programmes they have missed earlier.

“Today, YouView is being enjoyed in over 2,000 homes and the feedback from the trial is very encouraging.  It confirms that YouView is easy to set up and use and different to what has gone before. In many ways we’ve only just begun, YouView is set to evolve quickly and we look forward to working with new content partners and developing more functionality as boxes roll out into UK homes.” – Richard Halton, CEO of YouView

Users will need a good broadband internet connection to access the on-demand services and experience the full benefit of the new set top box. The service will also be offered through internet service providers BT and TalkTalk as part of their internet subscriptions.

YouView will soon have a range of quality content available from content partners including Sky’s Now TV and STV. A formal enrolment process for content partners was also launched today.
STV has confirmed that their on-demand content will be on before the end of the year for viewers in Scotland.