Netflix is rolling out to Humax-made Freetime from Freesat set-top boxes.
The TV manufacturer says that over the air updates will start hitting Humax-branded Freesat devices including the original Freetime box – the HDR-1000S – now, but has so far been unable to tell us when Freeview Play devices will get access to the service.
Back in September, Humax made public the fact that it had struck a deal with Netflix and said that the service, home to House of Cards, Narcos, Jessica Jones and many others, would be landing ‘in the coming months.’
Graham North, Humax’s commercial director was unable to shed light on when Freesat viewers might be able to tap into Netflix streams, but said: “Netflix will provide a simple way for viewers to seamlessly switch between their favourite subscription-free programmes, on-demand content and a rich variety of high quality films and documentaries.”
Like Virgin Media TiVo, YouView, Freeview Play and EE TV, Freetime is a blend of linear TV and on-demand services.
Alongside high definition satellite TV, customers can scroll backwards through the Freesat programme guide to search for shows broadcast earlier in the week, which are provided by catch-up services including BBC iPlayer, All 4, Demand 5 and ITV Player.
The Freesat devices that are due to get Netflix are:
- HDR-1000S
- HDR-1010S 1TB
- HB-1000S
- HDR-1100S
Humax spokespeople told Recombu that you might have to restart your box after updates have rolled out in order to see Netflix appear in the apps menu.
Freesat viewers got another little boost recently, in the form of UKTV channels Yesterday, Really and Drama landing on the service. There are, however ‘no current plans’ to bring Dave to the Freesat stable anytime soon, nor are there plans for catch-up service UKTV Play to roll out to Freetime hardware.
Update: A Humax spokesperson has clarified that all Humax-made Freetime from Freesat boxes will be able to get Netflix at the same time, regardless of model or iteration. We’ve edited the copy above to reflect this.
Additionally, the spokesperson confirmed that Netflix is headed to Freeview Play devices in 2016.
Humax’s spokesperson said: “Humax’s stance on Freeview Play and Netflix is that the service will be made available in the New Year.
“The delay in deploying was due to an extended development on our Freetime introduction, however the plan was always to develop and launch Freesat service first then move onto Freeview Play.”
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