DTG Member Briefing: Media Green Paper

Government publishes Media Green Paper and launches consultation on the future of television distribution

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has this morning published its Media Green Paper, Watch this space: a new strategic direction for UK media, setting out the Government’s proposed approach to the future of television, public service media and trusted news.

For the television industry, Chapter 3 represents the most significant policy statement on television distribution since digital switchover. It confirms that Government is now actively consulting on a managed transition from Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT/Freeview) to IP-delivered television and sets out the conditions that would need to be met before such a transition could take place. The analysis below focuses on Chapter 3 and the proposed IP transition. You can read the full Green Paper here.

The headline: Government is planning for a post-DTT future

The Green Paper states that while DTT remains important for more than four million homes, usage continues to decline and the cost of maintaining the network is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain economically. As a result, Government is now consulting on the future of television distribution beyond the current DTT licence period.

The Government has committed to maintaining DTT until at least 31 December 2034. Beyond that point it is consulting on two options:

• Managed withdrawal of DTT by 31 December 2034.
• A time-limited extension of DTT until 31 December 2044.

This is the first time Government has publicly set out a pathway towards the eventual withdrawal of DTT.

The focus has shifted from “whether” to “how”

A key takeaway from the Green Paper is that Government is no longer primarily debating whether television distribution will become IP-led.

Instead, the consultation focuses on how a transition can be delivered while protecting audiences, maintaining service quality and ensuring the continued availability of trusted public service content.

The Government identifies four core objectives that must be addressed:

• Delivering for all audiences.
• Maintaining a reliable television service.
• Promoting competition.
• Supporting the long-term sustainability of public service media providers.

Industry will be expected to play a central role

One of the clearest messages in the Green Paper is that Government expects industry to help design and deliver the transition and has already asked the DTG and it’s members for active involvement in the next phase.

One objective is to create a practical support package that enables audiences to transition to IPTV services and benefit from enhanced accessibility, personalisation and content discovery features.

For DTG members, this signals a significant opportunity to help shape the technical, operational and consumer experience requirements that will underpin any future transition.

IPTV is positioned as the future delivery platform

The Green Paper presents IPTV as the long-term destination for television distribution.

Government highlights a number of potential benefits associated with IP delivery:

• Greater content choice.
• Enhanced personalisation.
• Improved accessibility features.
• Easier integration of live and on-demand services.
• More flexible service innovation.

However, Government also recognises that significant work remains to ensure these benefits can be delivered universally and reliably.

Future television regulation is also under review

Alongside distribution, Government signals that the current regulatory framework for television may require fundamental reform.

The existing system was largely designed around broadcast delivery and increasingly sits alongside a much less regulated online environment. Government notes growing inconsistencies between:

• Broadcast television.
• Video-on-demand services.
• Video sharing platforms.
• Social media-delivered video content.

DCMS therefore intends to begin stakeholder engagement on a future regulatory framework that could eventually move away from regulating content based on how it is delivered and instead focus on where audiences discover and consume TV-like content.

This could become one of the most significant long-term policy developments arising from the consultation.

Implications for manufacturers and platform providers

The consultation raises several areas of direct importance for device manufacturers, operating system providers and platform operators.

Most notably, the Green Paper explicitly links the success of IPTV transition to open standards and cross-device interoperability. It states that future IPTV services should support “a wide range of devices through open standards” and that the transition will depend on “open, interoperable IPTV solutions that work across devices without locking users or providers into closed ecosystems.”

For manufacturers, this is a significant signal. Future policy discussion is likely to focus not only on whether devices can connect to IP services, but whether they can support a consistent, accessible and trusted public service television experience across different brands, operating systems and user interfaces.

Areas likely to become increasingly important include:

• IPTV interoperability and implementation consistency.
• Support for open standards.
• Consumer usability and simple set-up.
• Accessibility features and inclusive interface design.
• Reliability during peak viewing and major national events.
• Discovery and prominence of public service content.
• Security, software support and product lifecycle expectations.

This creates a clear opportunity for DTG members to help shape what will underpin any future transition.

Digital TV Group’s Work Programme

Our work programme will continue to develop in support of this national conversation and the practical delivery challenges identified in the Green Paper. Working with members and partners across the value chain, we will continue to explore the technical, operational and consumer-facing requirements that would need to be addressed before any future transition could take place. Areas already being discussed include IPTV interoperability, open standards, device and platform implementation consistency, accessibility, usability, service reliability, resilience, in-home connectivity, broadband and mobile network readiness, public service content discovery and prominence, security, software and product lifecycle support, audience communications, consumer support, and the evidence base required to define clear transition conditions.

We have also already met DCMS, DSIT, Ofcom and other stakeholder groups this week in the run up to publication. In those discussions, we explained the detailed aspects of future television delivery that are specific to the digital TV sector and which require specialist digital TV expertise, including standards, interoperability, device behaviour, service reliability, accessibility, usability, platform implementation and audience experience should be led by the DTG. This reinforces the need for close collaboration, with each organisation contributing where it can add the greatest value.

Public service media remains central to Government policy

The Green Paper strongly reinforces the importance of public service media providers, arguing that they remain critical to:

• Trusted news provision.
• Social cohesion.
• Cultural representation.
• Economic growth.
• Regional production investment.

Government also signals that further reform of the public service media framework may be required to reflect changing audience behaviour and online consumption patterns.

This includes exploring whether the current model of obligations and benefits remains fit for purpose in an increasingly IP-led environment.

What happens next?

The consultation opens later today and runs until 31 August 2026.

Alongside formal consultation responses, DCMS has indicated that it will undertake further stakeholder engagement focused on practical solutions and implementation challenges.

This next phase is expected to focus on:

• Audience support requirements.
• Technical readiness.
• Infrastructure and reliability.
• Accessibility.
• Industry coordination.
• Standards and interoperability.
• Public service media sustainability.

DTG perspective

The Green Paper marks an important shift in the national conversation about television distribution.

It is no longer a question of whether television distribution will change, but when and how that change happens. The challenge is to preserve everything audiences value about television while unlocking everything the future makes possible.

The opportunity is significant. Better accessibility, greater personalisation, richer discovery and new experiences have the potential to improve how audiences find, use and enjoy television.

As Chair of the DCMS Future of UK Television Infrastructure Working Group, DTG Chief Executive Richard Lindsay-Davies has led the conversation with organisations from across the sector to explore the practical implications of that transition, from changing viewing habits and future network demands, to resilience, accessibility and the experience of audiences themselves.

That work now continues as today’s Green Paper doesn’t create the need for collaboration – it confirms it. No single part of the industry can answer these questions alone. They demand practical co-operation across the whole value chain, defined conditions for any future transition, a timeline against which to plan and invest, and a shared technical roadmap that gives organisations confidence to innovate, collaborate and prepare.

For more than three decades, the DTG has helped industry competitors collaborate, translated complexity into practical delivery and developed the standards, testing and frameworks that have underpinned some of the UK’s most successful television transitions.

The success of any transition will be measured by whether every viewer can continue to access trusted, high-quality television services regardless of how they are delivered. It will require a shared destination, a clear route to get there and a collective commitment to deliver it.

Richard Lindsay-Davies, Chief Executive of the Digital TV Group, said: “It’s essential we focus on what we, as an industry, can deliver together. If the conversation around the future of television becomes a debate about what gets switched off, we’ve probably started in the wrong place. The DTG will continue working across the sector to focus on what gets switched on.”

“IP-delivered television offers immense opportunities for audiences. To create a television experience that is more accessible, more personalised and more responsive, without sacrificing the qualities that have made television such a trusted and universal part of British life.

“We will bring together the organisations that need to solve these challenges collectively, test assumptions against evidence and turn complex questions into practical solutions.

“The UK has the expertise, evidence and collaborative capability to get this right. In short: we’ve got this.”