Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment her Department has made of when digital terrestrial (a) TV and (b) radio will no longer be required; on what evidential basis she has made that assessment; and whether she plans to take steps to gather further data.

The Government remains committed to the future of digital terrestrial television (DTT), the technology underpinning the popular Freeview platform.

The Government has legislated to secure continuity of digital terrestrial television until at least 2034. We will, however, continue to assess and evaluate the future distribution of television as the sector evolves over the next decade, and we have asked Ofcom to undertake an early review on market changes that may affect the future of content distribution before the end of 2025. This review will form our evidence base for future long term decisions for the period after 2034.

The report of the joint government and industry Digital Radio and Audio Review, published in October 2021, considered in some detail the future of radio given changes to the wider media landscape and the rapid growth of online audio listening.

The Review, which gathered a wide range of research and other evidence, concluded that broadcast transmission (particularly DAB) is likely to represent a significant proportion of radio listening for the foreseeable future.

The Government passed legislation in April 2022 to enable Ofcom to renew the two national commercial digital radio multiplex licences until December 2035.