Letter to the editor: FreeviewPlus is growing all the time, anything else you hear is hearsay
In a letter to the editor Freeview CEO Liz Ross says its FreeviewPlus service is growing, in response to an opinion piece by Nic Christensen.
It’s unfortunate that misinformed critics seem so keen to make claims about FreeviewPlus – I refer specifically to the Mumbrella piece on Friday.
It’s particularly vexing as almost all of the criticism which is levelled is simply not based in fact.
FreeviewPlus is regarded in the international broadcasting industry as best practice and as an industry we should be proud that the service won an ITV Award for Best Enhanced TV Service.
The product is innovative and among the best currently available in the world.
Furthermore, the numbers of people using FreeviewPlus is increasing all the time. We know this is true and making claims otherwise based on hearsay is unhelpful if the truth is what you’re after.
Certainly the introduction of a new technology takes time particularly for manufacturers to incorporate the technology into their hardware.
To perpetuate the idea that no one is accesing online services on their smart TVs is mischievous at best and, in fact, plain wrong. It remains that we can see that 50 per cent of FreeviewPlus-certified, internet-enabled TVs are connected. That is a fact, not a claim.
If you visit our website www.freeview.com.au you will find that the majority of the top 10 manufacturers of smart TVs in Australia are FreeviewPlus-certified. And the numbers of available products are growing.
There is a logical argument to suggest that user numbers are and will continue to follow that trajectory.
In due course, Freeview plans to release data and I look forward to reading the commentary that follows.
Liz Ross is CEO of Freeview
Related content:
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- Freeview claims 50% of FreeviewPlus TVs are connected to web but refuses to give numbers
- Nine sales boss says ‘it’s a long road ahead’ for Freeview Plus
- Freeview confident of strong future despite failure to hit first year penetration target
- Freeview Plus HbbTV series
A friend told me that his video service for a large publisher has smart TV views in single digits most weeks.
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[citation needed], as the Wikipedia folks would say.
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Liz, your argument is undermined by the fact that you don’t provide any figures or data to justify your assertions
Nic’s article is chockers with graphs and figures that illustrate his points.
he also cited comments made by Peter Wiltshire among the many hyperlinks in his piece.
you castigate mumbrella for basing arguments on hearsay (not sure if this was a typo or editing mistake in the article proper), but making comments like “we know this to be true” and “in due course, we will release data” with no supporting evidence is the dictionary definition of hearsay
you implied a couple of times that nic is not being truthful in his article, or that he is presenting incorrect information as fact.
nic’s 3 claims about freeview are:
1. Freeview has so far been a failure
2. Freeview has missed targets & won’t reveal sales numbers
3. A large proportion of Freeview “Smart TVs” sold are not actually connected to the internet
if you have a case to argue that any of these are false, let’s hear it. The argument that SmartTV manufacturers are Freeview certified and that those manufacturers are selling smart TVs, does not logically prove that 50% of Smart TV buyers are connected. We only have your hearsay on this point & as you correctly point out, that’s not good enough.
i suspect that many mumbrella readers are sympathetic to Freeview and would be inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt, but only if you give us something to work with.
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Great. We’ll all take your word for it. Actually. Maybe you could release some figures.
How many people watched iview or SBS on demand on a freeview plus system last week compared to tablets or computers. That’s not commercial information. Let’s start with that.
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@1255 – brilliant response. I too am eager to learn of the ‘arguments’ and ‘figures’ that support the hearsay.
International markets have clearly shown there is an appetite for an aggregation of FTA services in some form or another (Hulu anyone?). Whether the runaway success of this kind of service is being hindered by regulation, participant’s contribution or technology/infrastructure; I echo 1255’s point – please give us something to work with.
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Rebutting a facts ladened article with ‘Trust us, our business model rocks,’ probably wasn’t the smart move.
Publishing that rebuttal on an industry website read by folk who buy your product was probably pretty dumb.
If FreeviewPlus wasn’t in trouble before, it will be now.
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“It remains that we can see that 50 per cent of FreeviewPlus-certified, internet-enabled TVs are connected. That is a fact, not a claim.”
This still does not address the omission of actual numbers. 50% of 2 TV’s connected to the internet is 1 TV.
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Btw, just because the TV is internet connected doesn’t mean they watch Freeview. Mines been for years and I’ve looked at the smart tv section once – on set up. The rest of the time it’s Foxtel, Netflix or NAS.
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If this article was a Venn diagram, the circles for “Volume of words overall” and “Facts given using some of those words” would barely touch each other.
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I still don’t understand what FreeView plus is (as a non marketer who just enjoys reading this site!).
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Despite the advertising I have absolutely no idea what FreeView is either !! Just a plug for watching free to air ? Never states what it is and what is function.
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I’m with you what is freeview?
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Sales Connections
Connections Usage
Usage Regular Usage
Time to show us the money methinks.
Until then and in due course I can’t accept your claims.
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This reminds me of Kenny Craig from Little Britain.
“Look into my eyes, not around the eyes, look into my eyes, SNAP and you’re under. Freeview is a fantastic innovative globally-recognised player. You don’t need any facts just believe us. SNAP and you’re back in the room..”
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To be fair to Freeview this letter has certainly raised awareness of platform…
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Liz, when can we expect these numbers exactly?
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I’m sure netflix is organising a three day offsite to brainstorm the imminent threat that is Freeview
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Yes can someone tell me what Freeview is? I thought it was just an industry body promoting free to air TV, in face of increased competition from Foxtel, SVOD services etc. How do they make money? I have a normal TV that gets all the digital channels, which I’m sure most people have, does that mean I’m a Freeview Plus user?
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