The future of Freeview – and how millions of UK viewers watch television – could change dramatically in the coming years, as the government launches a new initiative to examine the shift towards streaming TV.
A new working group, which will be led by Media Minister Stephanie Peacock MP, will scrutinise the future of traditional TV broadcasting in the UK, following concerning findings from government-commissioned research that shows some viewers risk being left behind as TV consumption moves online.
And the findings are stark: while most of us will be watching TV via the internet by 2040, around 1.5 million households could find themselves cut off from the digital TV revolution.
Today’s TV Landscape: A Major Shift Is Already Underway
The way we watch television in the UK has changed dramatically over the past few years.
While traditional TV channels broadcast through your aerial (known as Digital Terrestrial Television, or DTT) are still popular thanks to Freeview, there’s been a significant move towards internet-based viewing.
According to a research conducted by the University of Exeter and published today, homes that rely solely on internet streaming (known in the industry as “over-the-top” or OTT homes) for their main TV set have almost tripled in just five years.
These households don’t use an aerial or satellite dish at all, instead getting all their TV through broadband internet.
Traditional paid TV services like Sky and Virgin Media have seen their subscriber numbers decline, as viewers are increasingly drawn to cheaper and more flexible streaming services like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon’s Prime Video.
However, Freeview has shown remarkable resilience during this period of change.
Many homes continue to use Freeview as their primary TV service, often combining it with streaming services for additional content.
This creates what researchers call “hybrid homes” – households that use both traditional broadcast TV and internet streaming.
Looking Ahead to 2040
The research paints a detailed picture of how TV viewing in the UK might look by 2040:
- 95% of UK households will be able to watch TV over the internet
- 71% will rely exclusively on broadband delivery for their television
- 24% will be “hybrid homes” using both internet and traditional broadcast
- However, 1.5 million households (5% of the total) will still rely entirely on traditional broadcast TV through an aerial
This last point is particularly significant, as it suggests that despite the massive shift towards internet-based viewing, a substantial number of people could be left without access to TV services if traditional broadcasting were to end completely.
The households that will still rely on traditional TV broadcasting in 2040 are more likely to be:
- Older people, particularly those over 75
- People living alone
- Lower-income households
- Those living in rural communities
- People with disabilities
- Residents in the North of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland
The Broadband Challenge
While the government aims to have superfast broadband (speeds of 30Mbps or higher) available to at least 99.65% of homes by 2030, access to broadband isn’t just about availability – it’s also about affordability and digital skills.
The current average monthly broadband cost in the UK is £26.90. While this might not seem excessive to many, it represents a significant barrier for some households.
Around 100,000 households currently cite cost as their main reason for not having internet access.
Special discounted “social tariffs” are available for lower-income households, but take-up remains low. Only 220,000 homes currently use these tariffs, despite 4.3 million households being eligible.
The Future of Freeview, Freesat and Freely
This changing landscape has major implications for Freeview and Freesat, which have been the UK’s main free-to-air TV platforms since the digital switchover.
While Freeview remains popular today, the research and recent reports suggest its role will change significantly over the next decade and beyond.
As we reported earlier this year, Ofcom outlined three potential paths for Freeview’s future:
1. Upgrading the platform by investing in modernising the technology to improve efficiency and performance. This would allow Freeview to offer more channels and better picture quality while using less broadcast spectrum.
2. Reducing Freeview to a core “nightlight” service, offering a limited selection of essential channels like the main public service broadcasters and news outlets. This could serve as either a stepping stone towards eventual shutdown or remain as a basic fallback option.
3. Establishing a roadmap for completely phasing out traditional aerial TV broadcasting, with a carefully managed transition to internet-based television delivery.
There are also technical challenges ahead. The UK is notably behind other European countries in upgrading its TV broadcasting technology.
While countries like France, Italy, and Spain have moved to more efficient broadcasting standards (DVB-T2), the UK is still largely using older technology from the 1990s (DVB-T and MPEG2).
This technological lag could become particularly problematic after 2031, when TV broadcasters might need to share their broadcast frequencies with mobile phone companies.
The older technology uses more broadcast spectrum, which could mean fewer channels would be available if the spectrum needs to be shared.
For Freesat, the situation is equally challenging. The satellite TV platform currently serves around 1 million homes, but its future is closely tied to decisions made by Sky.
Both Freesat and Sky use the same satellites, and if Sky continues its move towards streaming services like Sky Glass and Sky Stream, the cost of maintaining satellite infrastructure could become too high for Freesat to bear alone.
In October, Sky did extend its satellite deal until 2029, throwing a lifeline to Freesat (and Sky Q) – but the writing is on the wall, with Sky reporting that most customers now choose Sky’s streaming platforms.
Is Freely The Answer?
Everyone TV (the organisation behind both Freeview and Freesat) is already preparing for these changes with the launch of Freely, a new service that combines traditional broadcast TV with internet streaming.
Launched in April 2024, Freely aims to bridge the gap between traditional (linear) TV and streaming, offering a familiar experience to viewers while preparing for a more internet-focused future.
Freely allows viewers to watch their favourite channels either through an aerial or via the internet, providing a smooth transition path as TV delivery evolves.
However, Freely has its own limitations – for now, it’s only available on new (2024 and beyond) TV sets, from a limited number of manufacturers – and it’s not available at all on set-top boxes or streaming sticks.
Furthermore, Freely has a very limited selection of streaming channels – from the public broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and STV) and from UKTV – but all the other, smaller channels that are currently available on Freeview are absent from Freely’s streaming section (and so, still require an aerial).
Looking Ahead: The Role of the New Forum
This is where the government’s new working group comes in. The forum will need to address the various challenges and ensure that any transition towards internet-based TV doesn’t leave vulnerable viewers behind.
Key issues the forum will need to consider include:
- How to ensure reliable TV access for those who can’t afford or struggle to use the internet
- Ways to help people upgrade their TV equipment and improve their digital skills
- Solutions for areas with poor broadband coverage
- Support for viewers who find streaming services confusing or difficult to use
- The future of Freeview and Freely in this changing landscape
The forum is scheduled to meet quarterly, starting later this month, with smaller working groups meeting separately to gather evidence and develop policy recommendations.
For now, Freeview isn’t going anywhere – the major changes discussed in the research aren’t expected to begin until after 2030.
However, the work being done by this new forum will be vital in ensuring that whatever changes do come, nobody loses access to the TV services they rely on.
For more news about Freeview, TV and streaming, Subscribe to our free newsletter.
In my opinion they need to upgrade Freeview, so that at least the public service multiplexes use the newer DVB-T2. It also needs the government to help fund it and force it to happen sooner rather than later.
For the PSB1 (BBC) multiplex it could potentially be first changed to only offering nation variations (i.e. Scotland, Wales, NI, and England). This would help to alert users to see if they can view BBC One HD on 101, and warn them that their device may not be compatible. Essentially similar to the nightlight service which they did for the FreeSat SD switch-off.
Once PSB1 was providing nation only variations they could then begin the process of converting from DVB-T to DVB-T2, with the SD channels being transferred over. Being nation only would mean that only four DVB-T2 variations would be needed, which would provide a cost saving in the long-term.
Then finally, once all PSB1 transmitters had been converted to DVB-T2 they could then close the SD channels, provide HD versions of BBC News and BBC Parliament. Potentially the BBC could also move most BBC channels off PSB3, apart from BBC One which requires the regional variations.
Something similar could also take place for the other PSB channels such as ITV1, Channel 4, and 5 which are on PSB2.
Removing free to air and transitioning to internet streaming will mean providers can rinse even more money from us, force more ads on us and have more unwelcome control over what we can watch and how we watch it. And if your internet suffers an outage or slow down you’re stuffed.
This is the problem we have here in UK with Government decision making, They don’t think of people who will be left behind in the name of tv technology, Some people maybe loaded with money, not everyone can afford to go online. You take linear tv and radio away from the poor, they will be left in the dark age.
I am concerned as I use Freeview and a box to record most of my viewing. I think the TV could connect to broadband (there are USB sockets) but as that comes in quite a distance from where the TV is I don’t know how to do it! If I have missed recording something I want to watch I use my computer to ‘catch up’. Signals around here are not brilliant so some channels are poor. There is so much available on Freeview that I have no desire to pay for the huge number of pay channels, I already have so much recorded on my Humax box that there is probably not enough time to see them all!
There are still areas where freeview reception is poor and aerials requiring long poles and amplifiers requiring a significant financial outlay and usually freesat is an easier and cheaper alternative it would be a shame if this was discontinued so soon
Its becoming apparent that UK governments consideer access to broadcast TV via aerial antenna or Freeview a danger to them. Hence, shifting to broadband delivery only. This will ensure that entire generations will be disenfranchised from access to broadcast tv if one has no access to broadband or cannot afford it. This together with the demise of print newspapers will ensure that the UK population will be less informed and cutoff from any publuc discourse. A brave new world of ignorance.
There’s still the option of radio.
The Radioplayer app opens up the world of radio so you can hear more than on FM, AM or DAB or DAB+.
I think one thing the article fails to mention is that people are moving away from platform such as Sky, Virgin and Freeview isn’t to watch linear TV by streaming it but to get rid of it completely because they don’t want to pay the TV licence and opt to watch things on demand instead. They aren’t doing it because they prefer streaming the channels as opposed to watching it a more traditional way. The only reason why Sky customers are taking to streaming channels in higher numbers than most is because Sky is either pushing existing customers towards it or they now only offer it to new customers. It wouldn’t surprise me if Virgin Media does the same in the next 10 years too, which isn’t a positive thing as once their network goes down as it it you lose everything
My main beef with streaming services is constantly being required to sign in, and this is something that you don’t have to do with over the air broadcasts. I’m sure some broadcasters will say that this is to prevent misuse, which may be true with paid services like Netflix, but for viewers watching free to air channels this is a real pain, and probably more to do with them wanting to monitor and collect data on our viewing habits so that they can flog it to the data collectors for large sums of money.
This constant sign in stuff alone would probably put many elderly people off from changing, and it’s just the same with many streamed radio services, which I have just given up listening to most of them now as I’m sick of being asked to sign in every time I try to access them (yes Global Radio I mean you!)
Download the Radioplayer app for access with none of this constant signing in nonsense.
Why did they not manufacture TV boxes, same as (android boxes) for the internet,
The interesting thing is if people can’t watch TV through aerials, then there’ll be no reason for buying a TV licence. Less income for the BBC to waste.
I’m one of those households who rely entirely on broadband for my TV, having disconnected my aerial and satellite dish years ago and I’ve never looked back.
It would be nice to have access to some of the Freeview channels, but the few I’m interested in aren’t on Freely, not that I have any way of streaming Freely channels.
The priority, I think, should be in making it possible to stream the Freeview channels on platforms such as ROKU, Google TV and Fire TV.
Fine if you’re not an elderly pensioner living alone and doesn’t know what to do when their streaming box freezes or stops working and doesn’t know it only requires the streaming box or the router disconnecting as happens when an elderly stroke victim phones me who has limited mobility
I’ve just started reading the report, it’s really fascinating. It’s clear there’s a lot of work to ensure nobody is left behind. It’s clear to enable a backup service of channels 1 – 5 and some news channels, so those without access to broadband and in the event of broadband outages still have access to some channels there are a couple of things that need to happen:
1. Upgrade the transmitters to DVB-T2
2. Frequency harmonisation across the UK
If both of these are done it will leave the greatest amount of of spectrum free for future mobile use.
It also seems successive governments have allowed a small yet significant percentage of the community behind when it comes to digital inclusion, hopefully this will spur on that effort as nobody should be left behind.