Ofcom plans to toughen minimum standards for broadcasters and multiplex operators following two major broadcasting disasters last year.
The loss of the Bilsdale transmitter mast in North Yorkshire in August and a major incident at Red Bee Media’s Playout centre in September 2021 raised serious questions about disaster recovery plans.
Channel 4 viewers were left without subtitles and other access services for nearly two months after the playout centre incident. Meanwhile, in North Yorkshire, Teesside and parts of County Durham, Freeview TV and radio reception was knocked out by the Bilsdale incident.
Under the proposed new rules, ITV, STV, Channel 4, S4C and Channel 5 will be required to treat access services with the same priority given to restoring audio and video components of the signal in the event of an emergency or disaster.
Multiplex operators will be required to report annually to Ofcom on how they are improving network resilience, providing details of any disaster recovery tests that have taken place.
The measures are designed to ensure that viewers won’t be disadvantaged in the same way again if a major disaster occurs.
While Channel 4’s issues have now been resolved, viewers and listeners in parts of North Yorkshire, Teesside and County Durham continue to have degraded reception. This will not be fully resolved until the new Bilsdale mast is completed this coming spring.
Changes to the rules in Ofcom’s technical code are up for consultation until early next year.