Freeview to launch its own PVR receiver

Freeview is set to take on Sky+ with the launch of Freeview Playback, a new personal video recorder (PVR), in September. General manager, Cary Wakefield, said: “Working with the industry, Freeview is committed to delivering a strong brand to increase consumer awareness of the benefits of digital TV recorders and to make the technology easy to understand.

The launch of Freeview Playback is crucial to driving consumer understanding and uptake.” Sky had 149,000 new Sky+ customers join in the three months to March 31, with almost a third of them new to digital satellite. This took the company to a total of 1.43million DVR households – an 86% leap compared with Quarter 3 of last year.