YouView could launch within four weeks

YouView, the soon-to-launch connected TV platform for the UK, will be tested by the public for the first time this week, and could launch within four weeks.

The joint venture project to deliver Freeview TV and online services to dedicated set-top boxes has faced a series of delays. However, test candidates from around 350 homes have been selected to trial the service with a view to launching the platform as soon as possible. A spokesperson told the Financial Times that YouView boxes could be on sale in as little as four weeks from now, in time for the Olympics.

Employees of YouView shareholders, which include the BBC, ITV, Channel Four, Five, BT, TalkTalk and Arqiva, have been testing the service, but this will be the first time members of the public have been granted access to it.

Last week, Dido Harding, the chief executive of TalkTalk confirmed that the company would begin offering YouView as part of a triple-play package by September.