Amazon, LG, Samsung and Roku are among the smart TV platforms set to face new rules under the UK’s Media Act.
Broadcast regulator Ofcom has issued a set of recommendations to the Culture Secretary that will require the most popular connected TV services to give greater prominence to streaming apps from the BBC and other public service broadcasters.
In practice, this means companies such as Amazon, Apple and Roku will be legally obliged to ensure services like BBC iPlayer are easy to find – for example, appearing first in app menus. Content from the main public broadcaster’s streaming apps including ITVX and Channel 4 streaming would need to be easily accessible in content rails.
The changes follow growing concern that UK public service programming is being crowded out by global streaming giants on smart TV platforms. Commercial deals between platform owners and streamers open up preferential access to user interfaces globally.
The Media Act also allows broadcasters to count online‑only programming towards their public service quotas. Without these new rules, UK broadcasters warned that some online-only content could risk being buried and harder for viewers to discover.
Extending existing rules
The Media Act, introduced by the Conservatives in 2024, extends rules that apply to traditional TV platforms to next-generation streaming services.
Previously, TV platform operators including Sky and Virgin Media were made to list certain channels first in their TV guide. These rules ensure you’ll always find BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1 (or STV), Channel 4 (or S4C) and 5 in the top five slots on your TV guide.
The rules were last revised in 2021 in preparation for the return of BBC Three to linear TV. BBC Three’s return forced platform operators to find space in the first 24 slots of the TV guide.
Similar rules are now set to apply to services including the BBC iPlayer and ITVX on connected TV platforms.
What happens now?
Ofcom has written to the Culture Secretary recommending that the following connected TV platforms are “designated”.
“Designated” is a term linked to the legislation which states the Culture Secretary has to officially confirm which connected TV platforms should come under the scope of the new rules. Ofcom has based this list on platforms that have at least 700,000 active users.
The full list of platforms set for designation:
- Amazon Fire TV OS 6, 7 and 8;
- Android TV 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14;
- Apple TV OS 18;
- Freely;
- Google TV 10, 11, 12 and 14;
- LG WebOS 22, 23, 24 and 25;
- Roku OS 14;
- Samsung Smart Hub (Tizen) 7, 8 and 9;
- Sky Entertainment OS;
- Sky Q;
- VIDAA OS U6, 7, 8 and 9;
- Virgin Media Horizon;
- Virgin Media TiVo on V6 ITE;
- YouView on EE TV (Sagemcom ITE)
- YouView on Sony ITE.
How will this affect me?
If you use any of the above platforms, you can expect to find BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5 streaming content more easily in the future. How each platform operator will implement the change will be down to them. But you could see the iPlayer, ITVX and Channel 4 streaming coming first in the list of apps. Content from the main UK public broadcasters may begin to feature more prominently on the first screen you land on.
You probably won’t see any changes if you’re using Freely. That’s hardly surprising. Freely is backed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5. As such, it already ensures public service content is prominent.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: User Interface – LG