Fears grow as Freeview could get switched off in 2034 — but there’s a major silver lining that could come from it

• Public broadcasters want to switch Freeview off in 2034
• This could leave as many as 2 million households without their main TV source
• A Sky reports proposes helping expand digital access to ease troubles

Freeview is at risk of being shut down in the coming decade, and there are big concerns that its axing will lead to cost increases, reliability problems, and could leave 1.8 million homes stranded unless things change.

Jointly owned by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, Freeview is a digital terrestrial television (DTT) service which sends over 100 TV channels and radio stations to homes provided they have a TV aerial, and a TV with a built-in tuner. You’ll also need a TV license.

However these broadcasters are considering switching the service off. The arguments for ditching Freeview is that most TV watchers stream programmes over the internet, and so it’s not worth it to invest in upgrading and maintaining an aging service most people aren’t using.

As they explained in an Ofcom report from July last year, we’ll soon be reaching a “tipping point at which supporting DTT in its current form is no longer commercially viable.”

A switch-off would likely happen sometime around 2034, as that’s when contracts with network operator Arqiva are up for renewal. It’s also predicted that by that point fewer than two million homes would rely on Freeview as their primary TV source.

The alternative would be an internet TV-based solution through streaming apps, or services like Sky and Virgin TV.

However those arguing against the switch-off have pointed out that reliable internet or paid-TV packages aren’t free – creating an increased cost burden for folks who rely on Freeview. There are also fears over how dependent we are on the internet – a service that isn’t always reliable – and that smart TV apps and features aren’t as easy to understand for older people (who make up much of the audience most dependent on Freeview).

What’s more, a Department for Culture, Media and Sport report estimates that 1.8 million homes will rely on Freeview in 2035, 700,000 of which aren’t expected to have an internet connection they could use for alternative systems.

Stuck in the past

An alternative solution to this that isn’t simply to stick to Freeview’s DTT model would be to instead focus on improving internet infrastructure to make it more reliable and accessible – and not just for TV, the internet is an essential part of modern life, and there would be a huge public benefit for ensuring reliable high-speed internet is as available as other core utilities like water, electricity and gas.

It would be a much better use of public funds than maintaining a service a fraction of people rely on.

We could also institute a plan very similar to the successful campaign that help transition folks from analogue to digital TV – making a switch which seemed equally scary to this change a relatively seamless one.

Beyond simply helping people better understand the new system, we could also bring in TV manufacturing rules like saying all smart screens need to have Freeview Play preinstalled (the on-demand streaming service version of Freeview), and an instant-access button on their remote in the UK.

Sky published a report suggesting that taking proactive action could more than halve the number of households left behind when Freeview is turned off (leaving only 330,000 by 2034).

For now no decision has been made, and given that the earliest date for a switch-off is 2034 there’s no major rush to make a final decision. However, taking a future-forward approach rather than wasting investment on outdated tech is unlikely to be the wrong decision in the long term, but we’ll have to wait and see what’s decided.

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