UK minister says there is a strong case for switching off TV
Key Points
- New telecoms minister Ian Murray said there is a "very strong case" for moving UK TV to internet delivery
- The Green Paper keeps Freeview's DTT network running until at least 31 December 2034
- Around 2.6 million UK households still depend on digital terrestrial television
- Broadcasters back a 2034 switch-off; Arqiva and campaigners want Freeview kept to the mid-2040s
- Telecoms has moved from DSIT into DCMS alongside broadcasting
New Telecoms minister Ian Murray has told the industry there is a “very strong case” for moving the UK’s television from aerials to the Internet, in his first speech since taking on the role.
Murray was speaking at the Connected Britain conference at ExCeL London on 9 September, in a speech published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on Tuesday (15 September).
“As set out in our Green Paper, there is a very strong case for a long-term transition to Internet Protocol Television (IPTV),” said Murray. He added that the shift could be “the key catalyst for modernising our digital infrastructure” and for making the UK the most advanced connected country in the world.
Murray said that no one should be left behind, and that any transition would only happen with the right safeguards, infrastructure and support in place.
The comments are the clearest signal yet from the new government on the future of Freeview, which runs on the digital terrestrial television (DTT) network that the Green Paper describes as increasingly expensive to sustain.
The government’s latest Media Green Paper committed to keeping DTT running until at least 31 December 2034, when the current broadcasting licences expire.
Beyond that date it set out two options:
- A managed withdrawal of DTT by the end of 2034
- A time-limited extension of the service to 2044.
Around 2.6 million UK households still rely on digital terrestrial television, either because they cannot access IPTV or have no broadband, according to Everyone TV, the organisation behind Freeview, Freesat and Freely.
A further 9.7 million homes have Freeview on their main set, though 73% of those households also stream.
Everyone TV said forecasts point to fewer than a million Freeview homes by 2034, of which only around 220,000 would remain unconnected to the internet.
The public service broadcasters, grouped as the Future TV Taskforce, have backed a switch-off in 2034, arguing it is unfair to leave a shrinking group of older and vulnerable viewers on a service that will deteriorate over time.
Arqiva, which runs the transmitter network, has argued that a 2034 switch-off would be an unprecedented gamble, and the Broadcast 2040+ campaign has worked with more than 100 parliamentarians to push for Freeview to be protected until at least the mid-2040s.
Murray’s speech was his first as telecoms minister following the Machinery of Government changes that moved the brief from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology into DCMS, putting telecoms, broadcasting and online platforms under one roof.
He said the move gave the government a chance to take a joined-up approach, and pointed to the TV distribution project as an example of where it would apply.
