Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to to the Green Paper entitled Watch this space, published on 23 June 2026, what criteria her Department will use in determining whether legislation is required to secure greater prominence for public service media content on third-party platforms.

The Media Green Paper, Watch this Space, sets out how we will ensure Public Service Media content is prominent where audiences are watching TV, including on third party platforms. The Government's preference remains for industry-led, voluntary agreements to achieve increased prominence in a sustainable and robust way that benefits all parties.

The Department has held a series of roundtables with the public service media providers and video sharing platforms to encourage industry led voluntary partnerships ensuring public service media content is made prominent and on fair terms. The Green Paper sets out that prominence should be outcomes-based, giving platforms the flexibility to deliver the objectives in a way that works for their platform, whether through recommendation algorithms or other means.

Before determining whether legislation is required, we intend to allow more time for voluntary agreements to be developed and to collect more evidence on their effectiveness. The consultation will allow us to collect evidence on the costs and benefits of any intervention.