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Google TV’s new free ‘Channels’ update in the UK makes it easier to drop the aerial – with one big problem

If
you’re
a
UK
viewer
with
the

Google
TV
Streamer
or
a
Chromecast
device,
you
should
now
have
the
new
Channels
tab
on
your
device.
That
means
instant,
easy
access
to
all
the
UK’s
big
broadcasters
all
streamed
to
your
TV,
with
no
aerial
or
satellite
cable
required…
or
at
least
it
should.
There
appear
to
be
some
key
omissions.

If
you
check
out
the
Channels
tab
you’ll
see
the
familiar
logos
of
ITV
and
its
regions,
such
as
STV
in
Scotland.
Channel
5’s
there
too.
But
so
far
there
aren’t
any
live
channels,
and
there’s
no
Channel
4.
So
the
dream
of
ditching
your
TV
aerial
completely
hasn’t
quite
been
delivered.

What
UK
channels
are
available
in
Google
TV’s
Channels?

As

9to5Google
reports,
Channel
4
isn’t
there
because
it
isn’t
yet
available
on
the
Android
TV
platform;
and
the
BBC
wants
you
to
use
its
iPlayer
app,
which
isn’t
yet
available
on
the

Google
TV
Streamer,
but
iPlayer
is
supported
on
other
devices,
such
as
the
Chromecast
and
the

best
TVs
with
Google
TV
from
the
likes
of
Sony
and
TCL.

Channels
will
ultimately
host
channels
from
the
BBC,
ITV
(and
regions:
STV
in
Scotland
and
UTV
in
Northern
Ireland),
Really,
Discovery
and
other
free
to
air
broadcasters.
To
tune
in
to
a
channel
you’ll
need
to
have
the
appropriate
app
installed;
if
you
don’t,
you’ll
be
taken
to
its
page
on
the

Play
Store
so
you
can
download
it.

9to5Google
also
points
out
that
many
apps
require
you
to
have
an
account,
so
the
quick
launch
buttons
will
take
you
to
a
login
page
rather
than
straight
to
the
channel.
This
also
happens
on
my

Apple
TV
4K,
and
it’s
very
annoying
with
iPlayer
in
particular.

The
new
Channels
are
welcome,
but
the
options
available
to
UK
users
still
trail
very
far
behind
the
ones
available
in
the
US:
there,

Google
TV
viewers
get
lots
of
live
channels

more
than
800
the
last
time
we
counted.
And
while
many
of
them
are
of
the
daytime
TV
variety
it’d
be
nice
to
have
more
options
here
in
the
UK
too.

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on
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TV
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