Open consultation

Consultation on the designation of Radio Selection Services

Published 15 July 2026

This was published under the 2024 to 2026 Starmer Labour government

1. Background

Radio continues to be a strong and highly valued medium in the UK, with 87% of the population tuning in every week. However, the means by which listeners’ tune into radio has undergone a significant shift in recent years. Changes to broadcast technology and streaming habits have resulted in a transition from analogue (AM/FM) to digital (DAB) and online forms of distribution. In particular, there has been a sustained uplift in listeners use of voice-activated devices (such as smart speakers) to access online streams of live broadcast radio. The use of these kinds of devices by radio listeners has grown strongly: according to the most recent figures from RAJAR, 18% of total radio listening is via a voice-assisted device.

In response to these changes, Part 3B of the Communications Act 2203 (introduced by Part 6 of the Media Act 2024) introduced new powers to protect the availability and carriage of online streams of UK broadcast radio on such voice-activated services (defined as Radio Selection Services or ‘RSS’). These protections were put in place to ensure that listeners using these services as designated by the Secretary of State are able to continue to access live radio.

Under section 362BB of the Communications Act 2003, an RSS can be designated if the Secretary of State considers that the level of its use in the UK to listen to internet radio services (i.e. online streams of broadcast radio) is significant. Before making any such designation the Secretary of State must first receive a report from Ofcom.

The new regulatory scheme, once fully commenced, will impose specific requirements on designated radio selection services including that:

• they must provide access to internet radio services (the online stream of a UK radio station) when selected by a user’s voice command
• they cannot insert content (including advertisements) before, or during, the playing of the selected service except a brief identification of the selected service (or any third party service used to cause the service to play) and, with the agreement of the selected service, advertisements
• when a user selects an internet radio service, the designated RSS must use the selected service’s preferred method to provide access to the service (e.g. the station’s preferred stream); and
• they cannot charge the internet radio service for providing access to the selected service (or complying with the other requirements above)

2. Ofcom’s advice

Ofcom published their final report to the Secretary of State on 19 March 2026, following a public consultation. This report recommended that the Secretary of State designate Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri.

In reaching this conclusion, Ofcom assessed the following matters specified in the section 362BC of the Communications Act 2003:

1. the number of members of the public using a particular RSS;
2. the manner in which that RSS is used by those persons;
3. whether the level of use is significant; and
4. any other matters considered likely to affect matters (a) to (c).

Ofcom based their significance threshold on a platform having 700,000 UK users. This was grounded on current level of use and how users listened to internet radio streams via voice-assisted devices. Ofcom has assessed that three providers of RSS are used by more than 700,000 people in the UK to listen to online streams of broadcast radio - Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri. Collectively, these three services account for approximately 95% of all RSS users listening to internet radio streams in the UK.

3. Proposed designations

Having taken into account Ofcom’s advice and recommendations, the Secretary of State agrees with Ofcom’s conclusion that 700,000 users is the appropriate threshold. Consequently, the Secretary of State is minded to agree that Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri should all be designated radio selection services.

For the purposes of these designations, the Secretary of State considers that Amazon’s ‘Alexa+’ represents an upgrade of the same radio selection service also known by the name ‘Alexa’, and that designation would include Alexa and Alexa+. We have considered a range of factors in reaching this conclusion. Firstly, the user’s legal relationship with Amazon does not change with the upgrade to Alexa+ i.e. the same Alexa ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Amazon Privacy Policy’ apply. Furthermore, both versions share a highly comparable user experience. For the vast majority of Alexa users there will not be distinct fees tied to using Alexa+ (as it is included in a Prime subscription), and these users will reportedly be automatically upgraded to Alexa+ from the original Alexa service. Technical analysis also indicates that the existing skills, routines and device integrations which underpin Alexa’s functionality as an RSS remain in place and unchanged as part of the Alexa+ service. Amazon has publicly confirmed that 97% of the 600 million Alexa devices sold worldwide over the last decade will be capable of supporting the Alexa+ architecture, and Amazon has ensured seamless integration between the two modes. Taken together, these factors indicate that Alexa and Alexa+ are part of the same RSS so would be caught under a single designation.

We expect that this approach to designation is likely to apply to any upgrade of ‘Google Assistant’ to ‘Google Gemini’, and for any AI upgrade of Apple’s Siri. These upgrades will be assessed against the same factors set out above and are likely to be considered as updates to the existing, designated RSS rather than distinct services.

The Secretary of State considers that these designations will secure the policy objectives settled in the changes made by the Media Act 2024, safeguarding the public value of UK broadcast radio streams when accessed via voice-assisted devices, without imposing disproportionate burdens on platforms.

Before making regulations to designate these services, and having already received Ofcom’s report, the Secretary of State is now required by section 362BB of the Communications Act 2003 to consult persons who appear to represent providers of radio selection services and providers of internet radio services, and other appropriate persons.

4. Approach to designations

The Secretary of State is minded to make regulations which designate the following radio selection services:

(a) the radio selection service known by the names ‘Alexa’ or ‘Alexa Plus’ provided by Amazon Media EU S.à r.l., a company incorporated in Luxembourg (company number B112767);

(b) the radio selection service known by the name ‘Google Assistant’ provided by Google LLC, a company incorporated in the State of Delaware, United States of America (file number 3582691);

(c) the radio selection service known by the name ‘Siri’ provided by Apple Distribution International Limited, a company incorporated in the Republic of Ireland (registration number 470672).

The full draft regulations are at Annex A.

It is important to note that following any initial designation, the DCMS Secretary of State may at any future time request reports advising on designation from Ofcom should the market develop. Each time Ofcom will consider the current market conditions and relevant factors, and the same process of consulting and making regulations will follow.

5. Consultation question

Do you have any views on this approach to taking forward Ofcom’s recommendations in designating the following three RSS: Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri?

Do you have any views specifically on the inclusion of generative AI enabled versions of these services within the same designations?

6. How to respond

Please email responses to radioteam@dcms.gov.uk.

Duration

This public consultation will be open for 8 weeks, running from 15 July 2026 to 9 September 2026.

We will then publish the government’s response to this consultation on this GOV.UK page, summarising the responses received and setting out the actions we plan to take in respect of them.