Instead, the channel slipped onto the service with barely any fanfare \u2013 though TPTV\u2019s own newsletter this week confirmed they\u2019ve \u201claunched on Freely\u201d and directed fans to Channel 36 \u2013 \u201cAnother giant leap for the Real \u2018Smallest Show on Earth\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n
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For the family-run channel broadcasting from a shed in Hertfordshire, it\u2019s another milestone in their remarkable journey from Sky-only launch to becoming one of Britain\u2019s most-watched independent channels.<\/p>\n
Background: Freely And The October Announcement <\/p>\n
Quick refresher for anyone who hasn\u2019t been following the Freely story.<\/p>\n
Launched in April 2024<\/a>, Freely is Everyone TV\u2019s streaming platform designed to eventually replace traditional Freeview and Freesat. It delivers live channels and on-demand content through your broadband connection \u2013 no aerial or satellite dish required.<\/p>\n You get a unified programme guide mixing live TV with catch-up services, so you\u2019re not constantly jumping between iPlayer, ITVX, and everything else. The BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and 5 all back it.<\/p>\n Right now, it offers 55+ live channels plus loads of on-demand content. The catch? You need a compatible smart TV from brands like Hisense, Bush, Toshiba, Panasonic, Sharp, TCL and Amazon Fire TV \u2013 or the brand new \u00a399 Netgem Pleio standalone box that launched this morning<\/a>, bringing Freely to any TV with an HDMI port.<\/p>\n Back in mid-October, Freely announced a major expansion that would bring 10 new channels to the platform in 2026. Talking Pictures TV topped that list \u2013 the channel our readers had been requesting for months.<\/p>\n These additions were set to push Freely\u2019s live streaming channel count past 70 by next year. Now TPTV has beaten that timeline by jumping ahead to November 2025, becoming available well before the other promised channels arrive.<\/p>\n The timing makes sense when you consider the channel already had streaming infrastructure in place. They launched their TPTV Encore apps<\/a> for Fire TV, iOS, and Android TV late last year.<\/p>\n The missing piece was always a live stream \u2013 something Freely now provides.<\/p>\n The Talking Pictures TV Story <\/p>\n Talking Pictures TV is a genuine family business that somehow became one of Britain\u2019s biggest independent broadcasters.<\/p>\n Founded in 2015 by Noel Cronin, his daughter Sarah Cronin-Stanley, and her husband Neill Stanley, the channel operates entirely from their home in Hertfordshire.<\/p>\n Noel builds each day\u2019s broadcast schedule by hand using paper cards in what Sarah describes as \u201cmore of an extension than a shed.\u201d<\/p>\n They specialise in vintage British films, classic TV series, and documentaries from the 1930s through the 1980s.<\/p>\n Think black and white British cinema that mainstream channels abandoned decades ago. Early ITV dramas nobody\u2019s seen in years. Forgotten B-movies from studios that don\u2019t exist anymore.<\/p>\n The remarkable thing? People actually watch it. Weekly viewership hit around 6 million during the 2020 lockdowns. Current figures sit around 4 million viewers per month. Those are extraordinary numbers for a channel showing content most broadcasters gave up on years ago.<\/p>\n Until now, you could watch it on Freeview Channel 82, Sky 328, Virgin Media 445, Freesat 306, and YouView 82. And now \u2013 Freely joins the party.<\/p>\n What You Get On Freely <\/p>\n Talking Pictures TV on Freely delivers exactly what the platform promises \u2013 live streaming through your broadband.<\/p>\n The channel sits on Freely Channel 36, tucked midway through the entertainment section rather than near the end where it lives on traditional Freeview. You get the same 24-hour broadcast schedule of vintage British films and classic TV shows that airs everywhere else.<\/p>\n Picture quality depends on your broadband speed rather than aerial reception, which means consistent streaming regardless of weather or geography.<\/p>\n No more pixelated pictures when it rains. No more missing the channel entirely because you live somewhere with rubbish Freeview coverage.<\/p>\n Like every Freely channel, you can pause the live channel for up to 15 minutes if you need to step away mid-film.\u00a0<\/p>\n However \u2013 there\u2019s no catch-up or on-demand content integrated into Freely\u2019s version of TPTV. You get the live stream and nothing else.<\/p>\n Miss a film? It\u2019s gone unless it repeats later. Want to binge classic episodes of a series that aired last week? You\u2019re out of luck. Freely only provides the live channel, with no connection to TPTV\u2019s app-based on-demand library.<\/p>\n The TPTV Encore App Situation <\/p>\n TPTV Encore, the channel\u2019s on-demand streaming app that launched late last year,<\/a> remains completely separate from the live Freely channel.<\/p>\n The Encore app offers a library of classic British content from the vaults, but it doesn\u2019t include everything that airs on the live channel. They\u2019re two different services that don\u2019t talk to each other.<\/p>\n However, if you\u2019re watching Freely on certain devices, you can have both.<\/p>\n The brand new Netgem Pleio (see my review)<\/a> \u2013 the standalone Freely box that launched today \u2013 runs full Android TV 14 with access to the Google Play Store.<\/p>\n That means you can install the TPTV Encore app directly on the device, giving you both the live Freely channel and the on-demand library on the same box.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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