I opened Freely one evening and the guide looked busier than usual. Not a reboot. Not a firmware scare. Just more Channel 5 flavoured tiles sitting there like they had always belonged.
On 29 July 2026, Freely’s own channel update page confirmed it: 11 new streaming channels from 5. Crime. Vet clinics. Trucking. Bargain Brits. Even a proper Milkshake! channel for the kids’ corner. Free. Official. Broadband TV from Everyone TV and the UK broadcasters. Not some random IPTV playlist someone DMed you at midnight.
If your Freely box or Freely smart TV is on Wi-Fi and up to date, most of these should already be in the guide. If they are not, you probably need a software check or (if you included aerial channels) a rescan. Full list and the practical bits below.
The full list: 11 Channel 5 streams on Freely
Numbers and names below match Freely’s official 29 July 2026 update. Keep this open while you scroll the guide.
| Channel | Number |
|---|---|
| 5 Cops | 69 |
| 5 Police Interceptors | 70 |
| 5 Movies | 77 |
| 5 A&E | 84 |
| 5 Crime | 85 |
| 5 Medical | 107 |
| 5 Yorkshire Vet | 108 |
| 5 Bargain Loving Brits | 118 |
| 5 Trucking Hell | 119 |
| 5 History | 128 |
| Milkshake! | 360 |
Theme channels, mostly. One show or one mood, looping with a proper EPG listing so you can channel-surf instead of digging through an app grid. That is the point of FAST-style streams on Freely: sit on the sofa, press up/down, land on Police Interceptors without opening My5 first.
What “exclusive” actually means here
Press and secondary reporting (Paramount’s 5 media hub, Advanced Television, Cord Busters-style write-ups) described five of these as exclusive to Freely at launch versus classic Freeview: 5 Movies, 5 Medical, 5 Yorkshire Vet, 5 History, and Milkshake!.
ISPreview’s August 2026 piece put a useful asterisk on that. Those five also sit on 5’s own streaming app. So “Freely-exclusive” is really “not on Freeview terrestrial in that form,” not “nowhere else on the planet.” Phrase it that way when a mate asks. Freely and Everyone TV remain the source of truth for numbers and rollout timing.
Everything else on the list is the usual 5 comfort food in channel form: cops, A&E, crime docs, bargain hunters, trucking chaos. Familiar titles. New dial positions.
How to get them: software first, rescan only if needed
Freely’s Rescan FAQ is clearer than most forum threads. Split your setup into two cases.
Wi-Fi-only Freely (no aerial)
Keep Freely updated. That is the whole job.
- Freely should pull software updates automatically.
- To check manually: open the TV Guide, hit the Settings gear (top right), then Software Updates.
- Install anything waiting. Reboot if the box asks.
- Look for the new numbers in the guide: 69, 70, 77, 84, 85, 107, 108, 118, 119, 128, 360.
No aerial in the mix? You usually do not need a full channel rescan. Software update is the lever.
Freely with aerial channels included
Different story. Freely says if you chose to include channels via an aerial, you may need a rescan after lineup changes.
- Many TVs prompt you to rescan when the lineup shifts. Press Rescan when asked.
- If nothing prompts you: Settings → Channel (or similar) → Auto Scan, then follow the on-screen steps.
- Manufacturer manuals still win for oddball menus. Same idea everywhere: refresh the channel list so streamed Freely numbers and aerial leftovers agree.
Still missing a number after that? Software update again, then one more rescan. Boring. Effective.
Where to look in the guide
Do not hunt alphabetically through every tile. Jump by number.
- 60s-80s: 5 Cops (69), 5 Police Interceptors (70), 5 Movies (77), 5 A&E (84), 5 Crime (85).
- 100s: 5 Medical (107), 5 Yorkshire Vet (108), 5 Bargain Loving Brits (118), 5 Trucking Hell (119), 5 History (128).
- Kids zone: Milkshake! on 360.
If a channel shows a thumbnail but will not play, check broadband first. Freely is internet TV. Soft picture or buffering is often the pipe, not a conspiracy. I bang on about that whenever Freely shows up in bigger box stories, including the Vodafone TV October Freely mention. Different product. Same reminder: free official Freely still needs a decent connection.
Freely is legal free TV. Say it out loud.
Quick framing, because the comments always go there.
Freely is the official free broadband TV platform from Everyone TV (the company behind free UK TV infrastructure), backed by the major UK broadcasters. Live channels. On-demand hooks. Proper EPG. No subscription to Freely itself for the free tier experience those channels sit in.
It is not pirate IPTV. Not a stolen M3U. Not a “firestick loaded” WhatsApp special. If someone is selling you Freely as a hacked pack of Sky Sports, walk away. Real Freely is the boring good kind of free.
You will still meet the usual broadcaster apps for catch-up: Channel 4’s app world, ITVX, BBC iPlayer on certified kit. I keep those how-tos separate so this post stays about the new 5 dial positions. Soft pointers if you need them: Channel 4 catch-up on Fire Stick and smart TVs, ITVX free catch-up, and (only as a side note) the BBC iPlayer uncertified Android TV deadline if your box is in that mess. Different headache. Same living room.
What I actually did on my Freely set
Checked Software Updates. Nothing pending. Scrolled to 69. 5 Cops was there. Flicked to 108 for The Yorkshire Vet energy. Kids later found Milkshake! on 360 without me explaining a single app icon. That is the win. Channels in the guide. Remote still works like a remote.
If your set is Freely-enabled and online, you should be in the same place. Update. Glance at the numbers. Rescan only if aerial is part of the setup and the new tiles never arrived.
Eleven more reasons the Freely guide keeps growing. Punch the numbers in. Skip the pirate noise. Watch what 5 already made, for free, on the official path.
Also useful: Google TV players that run the apps mentioned here.
- Google TV Streamer 4K: a simple Google TV box with Ethernet and the full Play Store. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
- Xiaomi TV Box S (3rd Gen): a cheaper Google TV box with Wi-Fi 6 and 32GB storage. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
Best IPTV boxes to buy
These are media boxes and sticks that can run players and licensed apps. The first six are Google certified Android TV or Google TV devices with Google Play. The three Fire TV Sticks run Amazon’s own systems with the Appstore instead of Google Play: the 4K Max and 4K Plus run Fire OS, which is Android based, while the new Fire TV Stick 4K (2026) runs Vega OS, which does not allow sideloading Android apps, only Appstore apps. The last one, the Formuler, runs its own Android and is not certified. They are not pirate hardware. They do not come with channels or playlists. I am not claiming I personally lab-tested every SKU this month.
Pick a Google TV box when you want Play Store apps on a proper TV OS or a dedicated player behind the sofa. Pick a Fire TV Stick when Prime Video and the Appstore already cover what you watch. If you need an Android player from outside the Appstore, skip the Vega OS stick.
- NVIDIA SHIELD TV Pro: the premium pick, a certified Android TV player with AI upscaling, Dolby Vision/Atmos and Gigabit Ethernet for the main living-room telly. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
- Google TV Streamer 4K: solid Google TV living-room default with Ethernet, 32GB storage and Dolby Vision/Atmos. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
- Xiaomi TV Box S (3rd Gen): Google TV box with 32GB storage, Wi-Fi 6 and Dolby Vision/Atmos, the cheaper box route than the Streamer. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
- Xiaomi TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen): budget Google TV stick with Wi-Fi 6 and Dolby Vision/Atmos when you want HDMI-simple, not a full box. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
- Budget Google TV 4K player: a cheaper certified Google TV player for a second telly. The model differs by store, so each link names the one you get there. MECOOL KD3 (Amazon UK) | onn. Google TV 4K Streaming Box (Amazon US) | Strong LEAP-NOVA-X (Amazon DE) | Strong LEAP-NOVA-X (Amazon FR) | Strong LEAP-NOVA-X (Amazon IT)
- MECOOL MEon1: Google TV certified 4K box with AI upscaling and 32GB storage for a dedicated player behind the sofa. Amazon UK
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max: the most powerful Fire TV Stick, with Wi-Fi 6E, Dolby Vision/Atmos and 16GB storage. It runs Fire OS, which is Android based, so you get Appstore apps and can still sideload an Android player. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE
- Fire TV Stick 4K Plus: the older Fire OS stick with Wi-Fi 6 and Dolby Vision/Atmos. It is being phased out, so buy it only while stock lasts. Like the Max, it can still sideload Android apps. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
- Fire TV Stick 4K (2026): the newest and slimmest 4K stick, with a new remote. It runs Vega OS, which does not allow sideloading Android apps, only Appstore apps, so check your player is in the Appstore before you buy. Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT
- Formuler Z12 Ultra SE: the newest Formuler box, built around MYTVOnline 4 for IPTV playlists. It runs Formuler’s own Android rather than certified Google TV, so there is no Netflix in HD and no Google certification. Formuler Z12 Ultra SE (Amazon UK) | Formuler Z12 Ultra SE (Amazon US) | Formuler Z12 Ultra SE (Amazon DE) | Formuler Z12 Ultra SE (Amazon FR) | Formuler Z12 Ultra SE (Amazon IT)
Whichever you pick, check that the app you need is in its store before you pay. And none of these boxes or sticks magically make unlicensed streams legal.
Article ID: HUSHAM-20260910-FR11
