Smart TV without an Aerial?

JohnSwift10

Will a smart TV connected to the internet receive STV player, My5, BBC Iplayer etc without being connected to an aerial?

My daughter watches TV via a Humax sat box with a sat dish but does not have an aerial  though she does have internet and she needs a new TV, her present TV is not a smart TV and I have both a smart TV and a TV that is not smart to spare.

Just wondering which one to give her, the smart TV or the dumb TV.

Keep_pedalling

Any new smart TV should work fine with a the iPlayer type services but older models may have lost some of these when the apps were updated but the firmware on the TVs weren’t. You can however get any TV to work with these apps using with the addition of an Amazon Fire TV stick as long as it’s got a spare HDMI port.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/fire-tv-stick-with-alexa-voice-remote/dp/B08C1RR8JM/ref=asc_df_B08C1RR8JM/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696354108603&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5821997004089371696&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9044911&hvtargid=pla-1290402446762&psc=1&mcid=91e794e6479b3c84b83f06d848467189&th=1&psc=1&gad_source=1

facade

Doesn't her humax box have all the players?- it may even do "catch up TV" which is just automated access to the various players (I don't know if catch up is on freesat though, if you can wind the programme guide backwards to watch earlier programmes it has catch up).

I'm sure my old humax Freeview box did, it just needs an ethernet cable or wireless connection to download the content.

Then you could give her your spare non- smart TV.

PHK

The Humax freesat boxes are old enough to not work with several of the catch up services any more. (They lost the contract in 2018 and the last sticks were sold in 2019)

Rodders53

Some Smart TVs using Freeview may require a TV signal during first setup.  After that they should be OK (until a factory reset is needed).

A Fire TV stick or similar device will provide a better smart experience than most TVs and be supported longer.    
{I even had to have one on my recent OLED purchase as the built in Plex app is limited to 1080p HD and the stick will stream UHD from my server.}

My Humax Foxsat-HDR has no working catchup apps any more.