Campaigners are calling on the UK Government to commit to the long-term future of traditional terrestrial broadcast TV for the benefit of certain groups of people.
- The future of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) is under threat, with public service broadcasters reluctant to continue support the platform.
- Report by consultancy firm EY highlights cost of migrating users and supporting vulnerable users with the ongoing cost of a monthly broadband subscription.
A new report by the EY consultancy group reveals that 4.3 million households who rely solely on broadcast TV could face an extra bill of £218 per year to switch from watching broadcast TV to only viewing through internet streaming.
The report titled ‘Assessing the risk of a switchover to IP-only TV Distribution’ sheds light on the potential consequences of getting rid of broadcast TV. It was published on behalf of Broadcast 2040+, a campaign group supported by 35 organisations wanting to protect broadcast TV.
According to EY, the full cost of this change would be in the billions, with an upfront cost of £2.1 billion and annual costs of £1 billion to access the online service. It is estimated £888 million of these ongoing costs will fall on viewers having to upgrade their internet connections where they otherwise would choose not to.
With viewers facing the impact of the cost of living and increasing bills, further costs of streaming services would burden the most vulnerable communities including older people, lower-income households, those living in rural areas, and those living with a disability.
Crucially, the report also showed that the current hybrid model of free-to-air terrestrial TV alongside streaming (e.g. Freeview Play and Freely) is working well while the benefits of a fully online TV system for viewers and broadcasters remain unclear.
The public’s opinion
The report identified viewers’ current TV usage and their perspectives on the future of TV:
- 59% of viewers do not want to be forced to have a high-speed broadband internet connection to watch TV.
- 31% of viewers say they cannot afford to pay more than they currently do to access broadband and TV services.
- 40% of viewers said a switchover to IP-only would be bad or very bad use of government funding.
Broadcast 2040+ is calling on the government to secure broadcast TV beyond 2034 when current licenses expire, ensuring accessibility and universality through a hybrid mode for the long-term.
▶ Context: The campaign to retain DTT
Who is involved in Broadcast 2040+?
Supporting organisations include Silver Voices, Age UK, The Children’s Media Foundation, plus broadcasters including PBS America, Boom Radio, Together, Talking Pictures, plus Arqiva.
What is digital terrestrial television (DTT)?
Digital Terrestrial Television is better known as ‘Freeview’ in the UK. The platform allows the digital broadcast of linear or live TV channels. It replaced the old analogue terrestrial TV service that was switch-off during the digital switchover between 2008 and 2012.
What’s the problem with turning off terrestrial TV?
With the future of satellite TV in question, terrestrial TV remains the only way people can access TV services without being reliant on a third-party gatekeeper, i.e. an internet service provider (ISP).
While most homes will be fine with this, it does pose a concern for some groups of people.
All homes would need a sufficient broadband internet connection and be able to afford an internet connection fast enough for all users to watch TV. That’s a problem if a user is in a unstable housing environment (e.g. can’t commit to a 12-24 month contract), or does not have enough money for a higher speed connection (e.g. fixed income users, e.g. pensioners). Vulnerable users may even struggle to use internet-based TV services, although an effort is being made to make them as similar to current TV services as possible (e.g. Freely).
Supporting these users with social tariffs or means-testing users would cost extra money. As the recent Winter Fuel Allowance decision has shown, limiting support those eligible for benefits leaves a tier of users just above the threshold who don’t have much money to pay for the extra costs.
The survey commissioned by Broadcast 2040+ confirms spending Government money in this way is not universally popular.
And what happens if there’s a wider problem with internet connectivity? Recent incidents in Glasgow and the Midlands highlight the issues already faced by residents when there’s an outage. In the future such incidents would result in users having limited or no access to news. Retaining at least a basic terrestrial TV service would provide a basic back-up.
Bottom line
In the end, a halfway house that sees most terrestrial TV services close, leaving a core, basic collection of the main public service channels, which showcase the best content from their streaming services, plus live news, sports and events appears to be the most likely outcome beyond 2035. But it appears public broadcasters will need to be forced, or encouraged with public money to offer a basic service. None of the main public broadcasters supports Broadcast 2040+.
By: Marc Thornham