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.
Article ID: HUSHAM-20260910-FR11
