The YouView project was originally scheduled to start in 2010. Two years later, the set-top box by Humax was revealed by the project’s chairman, Lord Sugar, and CEO Richard Halton.
YouView will provide audiences with digital television and radio channels as well as on demand programmes that are on the UK’s Freeview service.
Users will be able to rewind live TV and view content that was broadcast seven days prior. An on-demand search function is also available.
The box is expected to be available from major retailers, including Amazon and Argos, by the end of the month for around £299.
The subscription-free digital TV service is backed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT and TalkTalk. YouView will provide more than 100 digital radio and TV stations as well as access to BBC iPlayer.
"Our intention with this simple-to-use box is to provide extraordinary TV for everyone, with on-demand services combined with TV channels with an opportunity to search back an entire week to catch what they’ve missed," Lord Sugar told BBC. "It’s a whole new way of experiencing TV."
YouView has said that 300 more content providers have showed interest in joining the system.
Users can choose to pay a one-time fee for the set-top box or receive access through BT or TalkTalk broadband plans.
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