Panasonic and Freesat agree smart TV partnership

Panasonic has today announced a deal which will see Freesat’s Freetime service available in new Panasonic VIERA smart TVs.

Owners of the new range of Panasonic VIERA televisions will be able to use Freetime to roll back their TV guide for the past seven days, access all the main on-demand services including BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5, and receive daily programme recommendations.

“We’ve had a long standing relationship with Freesat and I’m really excited that we are the first manufacturer to have the Freetime service on our TVs,” said Craig Cunningham, Panasonic’s TV product manager.

“Research tells us that when it comes to smart TVs consumers want three things: the best content available, ease of use and flexibility. The Freetime service delivers on all of these aspects and more and when combined with our heritage in picture quality it’s a great combination.”

In the final quarter of 2013 Freesat added 31,000 new homes, with Freetime boxes currently accounting for over 40% of all Freesat set-top box sales.

Emma Scott, Freesat’s managing director, added: “For such an important global brand as Panasonic to choose Freesat’s Freetime is proof positive of the clear consumer benefits of our service. This is a fantastic acknowledgement of a great British media technology success story and this deal opens up exciting new territories for us.

“We have enjoyed a strong working relationship with Panasonic over the past six years – Panasonic was the first manufacturer to launch IDTVs with Freesat built in, so the deal for Freetime is a natural and exciting evolution of our partnership.”