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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the needs of rural communities in her Department’s review of the future of TV distribution; and whether Ofcom plans to conduct a similar review.

The Government’s recently launched research and engagement programme will look at how UK audiences, including those in rural communities, will get their TV in the decades to come, across digital terrestrial television (DTT), satellite, cable, and online.

Before any decisions about the future of TV distribution are made, close consideration will be given to how any changes would impact audiences, and especially those who rely on DTT as their primary means of watching television.

Ofcom is the UK’s independent broadcasting regulator, and it is for Ofcom to determine the scope of their work. However, as set out in the Broadcasting White Paper, the Government asked Ofcom to continue to track changes in DTT viewing and to undertake an early review on market changes that may affect the future of content distribution before the end of 2025. To that end, Ofcom recently published a call for evidence on the future of TV distribution, which includes how audience trends are changing and how the use of TV platforms varies between different demographics.