Freeview wants to get in on the catch-up action offered by YouView and has incorporated links to relevant services into its online programme guide.

The Freeview website now offers scrolling back in time, so you can flick back, check out what you missed and then hit the necessary link to move straight through to the relevant online catch-up service and watch the critical episode of Countdown that you missed.

It’s as easy as it sounds. Just hit the bright red "Catch up" button and you’ll be taken right to the programme concerned.

"Our TV guide is hugely popular and this update makes the user journey simpler and easy to navigate," said Adrian Mack, new media manager at Freeview.  

"Visitors will now have easy access to catch-up content via our new TV guide, instead of having to visit multiple websites and all without the need for a subscription." 

What does Mack mean by hugely popular? John Goodbody, business director at Grand Union who carried out the work, said that 250,000 people visit the online TV guide a month, "so we have made it easier for them to find out what’s on as well as making the Freeview offer clear."

The function is similar to that offered by YouView, the service that incorporates broadcast content and catch-up services into one EPG through its connected set-top boxes.

READ: YouView news and reviews

However, while the YouView offering is connected to your TV, the change over at Freeview.co.uk only affects watching online - you’d still have to return to your TV to watch regular programming.

Freeview has also teased that there will be more services added to the website in the coming weeks, including live streaming, more catch-up links on channel pages and programme trailers.