Guidance

Future of TV Distribution Stakeholder Forum: Minutes 3 - 20 May 2025

Published 23 June 2026

Minutes of a meeting held on 20 May 2025.

Attendees 

DCMS 

Chair: Stephanie Peacock MP, Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth
Mark Griffin, Deputy Director, TV Policy

DSIT

Catherine Page, Deputy Director, Wireless Infrastructure, Spectrum and Consumer Policy

Ofcom 

Ed Leighton, Group Director for Strategy and Research

Working Group Chairs

TV Sector Working Group Chair: Gill Hind, Enders
Infrastructure Working Group Chair: Richard Lindsay-Davies, Digital TV Group
Audiences Working Group Chair: Professor Catherine Johnson, University of Leeds

Members

Laurie Patten, Arqiva
Kieran Clifton, BBC
Clive Carter, BT
Khalid Hayat, Channel 4
Adam Minns, Commercial On-Demand and Broadcasting Association
Nigel Dacre, Comux
Elizabeth Anderson, Digital Poverty Alliance
Emma Whitmore, Edgio
Jonathan Thompson, Everyone TV
Hannah Whelan, Good Things Foundation
Magnus Brooke, ITV
David Powell, Local TV Network
Hamish MacLeod, Mobile UK
Mitchell Simmons, Paramount
Kerry Booth, Rural Services Network
Elin Morris, S4C
Dennis Reed, Silver Voices
Emily Davidson, Sky
Morna Macarthur, STV
Alex Mather, Tech UK
Professor Simeon Yates, University of Liverpool
Professor Steven Barnett, University of Westminster
Andrew Wileman, VM02
Colin Browne, Voice of the Listener and Viewer

Apologies 

Robert Specterman-Green, DCMS, Director, Media and International Policy
Paddy Paddison, Independent Networks Cooperative Association
Darren Baker, SES

Summary

The minister welcomed members to the third meeting of the forum. The minister acknowledged the range of views within the forum and emphasised the importance of collaboration between members. In response to a question about the objectivity of stakeholder contributions, the minister noted that several members of the forum, including most recently the BBC, had publicly stated their preference either for or against an all-IPTV transition – but emphasised that the government had made no decision about this matter and that this meeting was an open forum to analyse the issue.  Discussion then moved to the papers submitted to the forum (addressing, respectively, innovation, solutions and viewer and TV sector impacts), which had been sent to members in advance of the forum meeting.

The Chair of the Infrastructure Working Group summarised the innovation paper, underlining that the paper was not intended to serve as a prediction of the future; rather it reflected the collective insights and expertise of the Group and wider stakeholders and highlights emerging ideas from across the TV ecosystem. The paper put audiences at its centre. As set out in the paper, any viewing experience should not simply add complexity or create new divides. Likewise, innovation should not be defined by what is technologically possible, but by what is meaningful to people. Accessibility and usability were foundational concepts of the paper. Turning to the UK’s track record in TV innovation, the Chair of the Infrastructure Working Group reflected on the UK’s world-leading role in digital switchover, the development of DVB-T, DVB-T2, set-top-boxes, and the continued innovation on display in the evolution of DTT, scalable IP delivery, and in hybrid models and international standards. The chair concluded by noting that innovation was driven by users, who experiment and personalise their TV experiences, thereby driving industry to innovate to meet their needs. 

Discussion of the innovation paper was wide-ranging and covered various topics including: in relation to DTT, that a transition of transmitters in the 2030s to DVB-T2 would allow for more HD channels in the same amount of spectrum; that the government could potentially recoup some costs from potential spectrum release; that running costs for public service broadcasters would decrease; and that a transition would lead to energy efficiency savings. With regards to IPTV, it was suggested that content delivery networks’ adoption of multicast and improved caching would precipitate improved availability and reliability of IP streams; that in-home connectivity would be improved by advancements in next-generation WiFi; that user driven innovation was self-evidently driven by those audiences already using a given product, but it was important to consider how innovations are experienced by those not yet using a product; and that innovation did not function in a vacuum and should consider audiences that do not have access to IPTV. The affordability and accessibility of TV-only broadband and its potential to facilitate access to IPTV was also raised. Concluding, the minister reflected that innovation was often invisible to audiences, and that innovation with a focus on usability and affordability was particularly significant. The minister noted that she continued to work closely with the Minister of State for Data Protection and Telecoms on several of the issues raised.

The Chair of the Audience Working Group summarised the Solutions paper, the purpose of which was to set out the solutions required for the government to opt for a full transition to IPTV in 2034. This paper addressed the challenges set out within the Audience Working Group’s previous universality paper. A full transition to IPTV, rather than other potential distribution options, was selected as the focus of this paper as IPTV was likely to be the most transformative option. It would be essential that solutions for any transition to IPTV were clearly costed, with particular focus on ensuring that costs were not passed along to those who could not afford them. In addition, a national campaign would be needed to raise awareness of a potential transition and any support available to households. 

Before the discussion it was noted that members of the Audiences Working Group had attended a demo of IPTV services led by members of the TV Sector Working Group and that this could help inform this discussion. Discussion of the solutions paper was wide-ranging and covered varied topics including: stakeholders’ differing views around whether IPTV could offer audiences greater usability than DTT; recognition of the importance of affordability and cost as a key barrier to a full IPTV transition, in relation to both broadband and access to a television set; and how a full IPTV transition could impact the digitally excluded. Some members suggested that maintaining a hybrid distribution model would help mitigate the challenges identified with a full IPTV transition.

The Chair of the TV Sector Working Group summarised the viewer and TV sector impacts paper, which examined how Ofcom’s three options for TV distribution (nightlight, enhanced DTT, and full-IP transition) would impact a competitive TV industry and a sustainable public service broadcasting ecosystem. The paper identified several critical success factors for the 2030s including a mixed ecology of funding models, domestic production, discoverability, innovation, universality, the Public Service Media compact, and collaboration. The paper then assessed whether (compared to the current hybrid distribution model) a full IPTV transition would help meet the success factors, or present further challenges, with solutions discussed. There was less consensus around challenges and solutions for the PSB ecosystem. Finally, provided challenges were addressed, the paper evaluated the impact of the three options on success factors, concluding that a move to full-IP in the 2030s would best promote a competitive TV industry and support a sustainable public service broadcasting ecosystem.

Members put forward a range of views on the paper, including: that for local TV the addition of IP distribution costs, without the benefit of improved discoverability, would make the proposition for local TV more challenging; that a reduction of PSB distribution costs under an IP transition would be offset by an increase in costs to consumers in the form of IP broadband fees; that there should be more of a focus on the sustainability of public service broadcasting, than of public service broadcasters as the audience proposition on a given distribution service was the most important consideration; that part of the public service broadcasters’ obligations, as required by Ofcom, was to operate a sustainable business model and if distribution costs became prohibitive then the content would necessarily suffer; and that regional prominence would need to be considered under any transition option. Some members noted that the paper was overly focused on IPTV, and could be more balanced.  

Drawing the meeting to a close, the minister thanked members for their contributions and acknowledged the preparatory work done in advance of this meeting. The minister noted that DCMS would in due course be launching a technical consultation with a view to costing the different distribution options, and encouraged relevant members to contribute. The next meeting would be scheduled for Monday 21 July 2025.