ITV Hub, the streaming app from ITV that offers catch-up and on-demand shows and box-sets, will stop working on a few older Freeview devices, from September 28, 2022.
This is due to ITV upgrading their content protection technology, and ahead of ITV Hub being replaced by ITVX, the new streaming service from ITV.
The upgrade, however, is incompatible with some devices, mostly older Smart TVs, from brands such as Hisense, TCL, Panasonic and more (see the full list below).
Last year, the same thing happened with a few older YouView boxes, when ITV Hub was no longer supported on them due to similar content protection upgrades.
Update: ITV Hub is also being removed from the Freesat Humax boxes, from many older Samsung TVs, and from two popular Humax Freeview recorders.
ITV Hub is normally available on a large number of streaming devices like the Amazon Fire TV and Roku, as well as on Freeview Play boxes and TVs, and connected Freesat set-top boxes.
The app relies on broadband, and you can use it to stream ITV’s live channels, or to watch programmes on demand.
Later this year (in November, most likely) ITV Hub will be replaced by a new streaming service – ITVX, which will include more than 15,000 hours of content (compared to 4,000 on ITV Hub), most for free (with adverts), as well as a premium tier that will add BritBox to the mix.
The plan is for the ITVX app to be available on every device that currently supports ITV Hub (as well as some new ones such as Sky Q), but devices that will stop supporting ITV Hub, will also not support ITVX when it launches.
ITV Hub Leaving Older TVs
This week, ITV announced that they’re “upgrading our technology to offer more content and better picture quality, and improve our overall app experience”.
Unfortunately, the technology is not supported by some device models and will no longer be compatible after September 28.
Until then, ITV Hub will continue to work – but after the cutoff date, it will either stop working on affected devices – or will continue to work for a while, but will no longer be supported or updated.
Those with affected devices should be seeing ITV Hub pop-ups on their screens, informing them of the upcoming change.
It’s important to note that the linear ITV Freeview channels – the ones you’re getting via an aerial – will not be affected by this change.
The only thing that will stop working, on the mentioned devices, is the broadband-based ITV Hub app.
- August 15 Update: Freeview expanded the list of models that will be affected.
The devices that will lose ITV Hub access on September 28 are:
Hisense MTK5657 / Hisense MTK5658 – Smart TV models from 2016.
TCL 6586 6 Series – Smart TVs from 2018.
Avtex – TVs and devices from 2016 onwards.
CTVE – TVs and devices from 2013 onwards.
Panasonic TV 2016 D MT5810
Panasonic TV 2015 C MT5595, Diga
Panasonic TV 2018 F HD MT5581
Sharp UMC MSD6486
Sharp UMC MS6586
Sharp UMC 6486X
How Can I Continue To Watch ITV Hub?
If you still own one of the aforementioned devices, and ITV Hub stops working for you, there are a few places you can continue to use ITV’s streaming app.
The app is currently compatible with many other streaming devices, including:
- Amazon Fire TV (Sticks and Edition TVs)
- Android TV: Sony Android and Chromecast with GoogleTV
- Apple iPhones and iPads (OS v12 or later)
- Apple TV (Gen3 onwards)
- Chromecast devices
- Freesat Boxes and TVs (Panasonic TVs 2015 and earlier with built-in Freesat, and first-generation Freesat boxes are no longer supported)
- Freeview Play boxes (such as the Manhattan T3-R) and TVs
- Android Mobiles (OS v5 and later)
- Now Streaming Devices
- Roku streaming devices
- Samsung TVs (running Tizen OS 2.4 and later)
- Sky Glass
- Virgin V6
- Virgin TV360
- Virgin Media Stream
- YouView (BT & TalkTalk) (first-generation YouView boxes are not supported)
- YouView Sony TVs
- Nvidia Shield
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series S
- Xbox Series X
Sky Q is unfortunately not supported, though it’s meant to support the upcoming ITVX app when it launches.
You can also access ITV Hub by going to its website directly on a computer browser.
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This article was first published on August 10, and was later updated with more additional information.
