The end of terrestrial television in the UK?

21 Sep 2015 12:57 PM

The Culture Secretary, John Whittingdale, has said that the time may come when DTT spectrum is given over to another service.

John Whittingdale, speaking at this week's Royal Television Society Cambridge Convention, said that he could forsee a time when television programmes were no longer broadcast on the digital terrestrial spectrum.

Mr Whittingdale commented that "The future of DTT spectrum will affect every channel if we reach the point when we have to make changes", telling delegates that the demand for spectrum from mobile operators would only increase as they launch more and more services. "If we reach the day when IPTV is universal then we need to consider that, but we are a long way from that point".

Addressing what he called the "Balance of Payments" – whether the payments between PSBs and platforms for items such as retransmission fees were in balance – he said the recent consultation thought the system was working well, though many argued that the policy rationale behind exempting cable platforms from having to pay copyright fees for the content they are carrying is no longer relevant.

There was also the issue of PSB prominence on EPGs, which puts not only the BBC, but ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 at the top of the guides: "These are complex issues and we have more work to do to understand the consequences of possible changes, but I can confirm that we will be publishing the Government's response before the end of the year" he stated.

On the digital single market he said he agreed with the ambition put forward by the European Commission, providing it didn't adversely effect competition. "Consumers understandably want to enjoy continued access to their favourite programmes when they travel abroad. And it is only right for someone who has paid for access to a subscription service – or even just the licence fee – to be able to access that content when on holiday overseas".

techUK strongly believe that the DTT platform has a critical role to play in the delivery of 'as broadcast' television for the forseeable future. techUK will be responding to the various BBC Charter consultations, representing our member interests. techUK are also working in partnership with Digital UK on a strategy for the future of Digital Television.