Opinion

Letter to the editor: FreeviewPlus is growing all the time, anything else you hear is hearsay

Liz RossIn 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.

Freeview PlusThe 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 

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