ITVX, the new streaming service that’s replacing ITV Hub, brought with it the promise of live, streaming ITV channels that don’t require an aerial or a dish. However, if live TV on ITVX isn’t working for you – you’re not alone.
The “Live” section of ITVX – which streams live broadcasts of ITV’s linear channels (ITV1, ITV2, etc.), isn’t supported on most connected TV sets and Freeview Play devices – a problem it shares with the old ITV Hub.
This also means that ITVX’s new “themed” linear streaming channels (such as the one dedicated to Love Island, one for The Chase, Classic Films, and even a British Sign Language channel) – are also not available on most TVs and Freeview Play devices.
So while the live section is available on standalone streaming sticks/boxes like the Fire TV, Roku sticks, Sky Stream, Freesat and others (see the full list below) – it doesn’t work on most TV brands (except for Samsung) – or on Freeview Play boxes like the Humax Aura.
And even with Samsung – as we covered in the past – the app itself won’t work at all if you have an older (2016 and earlier) TV.
If you still want to watch ITVX’s live channels, and your TV doesn’t support it – there are a few workarounds. But this is disappointing news for many who don’t have decent aerial/satellite reception in their area.
What Is ITVX?
ITV’s new streaming app, ITVX, is a free-to-watch (with adverts) service that’s replacing the ageing ITV Hub app, and is available on most streaming devices and TVs sold in the UK.
ITV is aiming high with ITVX – more than just a “catch-up” service, it plans to be a streaming destination. The service launched with more than 10,000 hours of on-demand content, including 35 flagship shows, 200+ series and 250+ films.
While ITV is focusing heavily on the ad-supported free tier, ITVX also has a paid Premium tier, which removes all the adverts when you’re watching on-demand content (though they will continue to show up when you watch live content).
Premium tier subscribers also get access to the entire content library of BritBox (directly on ITVX, not on the BritBox app), which includes more than 4,000 hours of classic British shows and films.
The Premium tier currently costs £5.99/month or £59.99/year.
ITVX Live: Not Working On Most TVs
In addition to the on-demand content, some versions of ITVX also have a “Live” tab, that lets you stream all of ITV’s live channels via the app, as well as 20 “themed” ad-supported live channels that are dedicated to a single series or theme.
This is particularly important to viewers who don’t have good aerial reception for Freeview in their house, and don’t want to install a satellite dish (for Freesat) or pay for a TV subscription from Sky or Virgin Media.
The same is true for BBC iPlayer, for example, which – in addition to on-demand content, lets viewers watch the live, linear feeds of the BBC’s channels.
But ITVX, much like its ITV Hub predecessor, doesn’t support live channel streaming on Freeview Play devices and TV sets.
So, households with an LG, Panasonic, Phillips and other connected TVs – or with set-top Freeview Play devices like the Humax Aura or the Manhattan T3-R – won’t have the Live tab on their ITVX app, and won’t be able to watch ITV’s linear channels or the new themed channels via streaming.
You can still watch the on-demand content on ITVX – but not anything live. So, when there’s a big football match – you’ll be able to watch it on-demand once the game is done, but not live (if you have one of the affected TVs/devices).
One exception, where TVs are concerned is Samsung – if you have a TV model that’s newer than 2016, the standalone ITVX app on Samsung TVs does support live streaming.
The supported devices for live streaming on ITVX are, as of these writing:
- Amazon Fire TV
- Android TV
- Apple TV
- Freesat
- Roku streaming players
- NOW TV Streaming players
- Samsung Smart TVs
- Sky Glass
- Sky Stream puck
- Virgin Media players
- Xbox One/S/X and Xbox Series X/S
- iOS Phones/Tablets
- Android Phones / Tablets
- Web browsers
With Roku, note that the Live tab is available on Roku’s standalone players (such as the Roku Express and Roku Stick 4K), but not on Roku TVs (there are several models in the UK – from TCL, Hisense and more) – as those use the Freeview Play version of the ITVX app, which doesn’t support live streaming.
Which Live Channels Can I Watch On ITVX?
If your device supports live streaming on ITVX, the channels you can watch are:
- ITV1
- ITV2
- ITVBe
- ITV3
- ITV4
- CITV
- The “Themed” live channels, which will change periodically.
How Can I Still Watch Live Channels On ITVX?
If your device doesn’t support ITVX’s live streaming there are a couple of workarounds.
The easiest way is to connect one of the other supported devices (a streaming stick for example) to your TV, and run ITVX from there.
If you don’t have one – and don’t want to spend money on another device – you can try to use your Smart TV’s built-in web browser.
This feature isn’t available on all TVs – but if your connected TV has a web browser that lets you surf to any URL – you can use it to go to https://www.itv.com/, where you will get the web version of ITVX – which does support live streaming.
And lastly, don’t forget you can still watch ITV’s linear channels the old-fashioned way – with an aerial or a satellite dish – but obviously, that’s not applicable to every house.
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