Summary:
- Ofcom’s report highlights a critical threat to UK public service broadcasting, with young audiences increasingly turning to global platforms like YouTube and Netflix, bypassing traditional broadcasters.
- Ofcom proposes making public service content more discoverable on third-party platforms, calling for new legislation to ensure UK public broadcasting content is prominent online.
- The report identifies structural challenges, including declining licence fee revenue, with about 500,000 UK households cancelling their TV licences in 2023.
- Ofcom outlines a six-point plan to enhance the visibility of UK content, ensure financial sustainability for less profitable genres, and promote collaboration among public broadcasters.
- Traditional TV accounts for less than half of all screen time among viewers, with online platforms dominating, often lacking obligations to feature UK public media.
- Ofcom stresses the urgent need for action and coordination among broadcasters, digital platforms, and policymakers to preserve the role of public service broadcasting in UK life.
Traditional UK public service broadcasting is facing a critical juncture, according to a new report by the communications regulator Ofcom, which warns that the sector risks becoming increasingly invisible to younger audiences unless urgent action is taken. The report, published on 21 July 2025, paints a stark picture of the shifting media habits of British viewers, particularly children and young adults, who now spend the vast majority of their screen time on global platforms like YouTube and Netflix, bypassing traditional broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
“Our data shows that the way people—especially younger audiences—consume content is fundamentally changing,” said Ofcom Chief Executive Melanie Dawes. “Public service media must adapt quickly to remain relevant, or risk losing its place in British life altogether.”
At the heart of Ofcom’s recommendations is a proposal to make public service content more discoverable on third-party platforms, including YouTube. The regulator is calling for new legislation to ensure that public service video—particularly news and children’s programming produced under UK public broadcasting obligations—is given appropriate prominence online. This would include giving platforms legal responsibilities to negotiate fair and equitable distribution terms with UK broadcasters.
Currently, much of this content is buried beneath algorithm-driven recommendations or available only through niche app interfaces, making it difficult for users—especially children—to encounter UK-originated programming. Ofcom suggests that unless these barriers are addressed, the reach and impact of public service television will continue to decline.
The report also highlights broader structural challenges facing the industry, including a decline in traditional licence fee revenue. According to the regulator, roughly 500,000 UK households cancelled their TV licences in 2023, a trend that threatens the funding model meant to support a wide range of services—from investigative journalism to arts and children’s programming—that commercial broadcasters do not typically provide.
“We are now entering a stage where the very concept of universally accessible, domestically focused content is under threat,” Dawes noted. “That has serious implications not just for our creative industries, but for civic engagement and cultural identity.”
In response to these challenges, Ofcom outlined a six-point plan focused on promoting visibility of UK content, providing financial sustainability for less commercially viable genres, and encouraging deeper collaboration between public service broadcasters. It also called for greater regulatory clarity ahead of 2026, when key decisions on TV distribution frameworks and prominence rules are due to be made.
The urgency of the matter was echoed by Channel 5, whose director of content, Ben Frow, pointed out that it remains the only UK public broadcaster offering a daily preschool block—Milkshake!—grounded in British educational values. “Without renewed policy support, we fear this type of programming could vanish from free-to-access platforms,” he said.
While the Department for Culture, Media and Sport confirmed receipt of the report, a spokesperson said only that the government is “considering its recommendations carefully.”
The broader media landscape has also shifted significantly, with traditional TV now accounting for less than half of all screen time among viewers. That figure drops to under 48% for people aged 16 to 24, and even lower among younger children, the report noted. At the same time, online platforms have become dominant gateways to content, often controlled by global algorithms with little obligation to feature UK public media.
Despite the sobering outlook, Ofcom emphasized that there is still time to act. The report underscores the potential for the UK’s creative and public service sectors to remain at the heart of national life, but only if broadcasters, digital platforms, and policymakers coordinate closely in the coming years.
“Public service broadcasting in this country has always been about more than entertainment—it’s part of the democratic infrastructure,” Dawes concluded. “Whether we retain that depends on the choices we make now.”
Background:
Here is how this event developed over time:
- 📅 July 21, 2025: Ofcom publishes its report “Transmission Critical,” declaring traditional UK public service broadcasting (PSB) “endangered” due to audience erosion and digital platform dominance.
- 📅 July 21, 2025: The report reveals that less than half of UK screen time is now spent watching traditional broadcast TV, with only 48% of 16-24-year-olds tuning in weekly.
- 📅 July 21, 2025: Ofcom highlights YouTube’s growing influence among children and notes that UK PSB content lacks visibility on global platforms.
- 📅 July 21, 2025: The regulator unveils a six-point plan, including legislative proposals for PSB prominence, improved funding mechanisms, and strategic partnerships.
- 📅 July 21, 2025: Channel 5 emphasizes the importance of its Milkshake! strand as one of the few remaining UK-rooted public service offerings for preschool audiences.
- 📅 July 21, 2025: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) acknowledges the report and signals its intent to review Ofcom’s recommendations.
- 📅 July 21, 2025: Ofcom warns of declining licence fee revenue, citing 500,000 UK households who cancelled their TV licences in 2023.
- 📅 July 21, 2025: The report sets a government deadline in early 2026 to decide on new TV distribution rules, cautioning that further delay could harm the £4.8 billion UK content industry.