Britain’s biggest broadcasters have broken ranks with years of rivalry to issue an ultimatum to the government: save us from the tech giants, or watch British television disappear
In an unprecedented joint letter published this week, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and 5, along with MG Alba, S4C and STV, have united to call for sweeping changes that could dramatically alter how you watch TV and discover content online.
The broadcasters warn that “global online platforms, rather than distinctly British broadcasters, will come to dominate our cultural landscape” unless urgent action is taken now.
Their timing couldn’t be more pointed. Speaking at the Royal Television Society Cambridge Convention this week, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy delivered the strongest government backing for public service broadcasting in years – threatening to regulate YouTube if it doesn’t promote more BBC content, and promising the BBC will be funded sustainably “well into the next century.”
This comes despite the TV licence crisis we’ve been tracking, with evasion hitting a 30-year high and 3.6 million households legally declaring they don’t need a licence.
The Long Road to This Moment
This joint plea represents the culmination of years of mixed success in PSBs’ individual attempts to secure prominence in the digital age.
Back in June 2023, the BBC proposed adding dedicated iPlayer buttons to every streaming device remote sold in the UK – an ambitious plan that would have guaranteed the broadcaster a physical presence on your Fire TV or Roku controller.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport swiftly shot this down, ruling that remote controls were outside the scope of the Media Bill.
When that failed, attention turned to device home screens. The Draft Media Bill sparked fierce debate about whether PSBs deserved “significant” or merely “appropriate” prominence on smart TVs and streaming platforms.
ITV’s Magnus Brooke warned of “bitter first-hand experience” trying to get ITVX onto older devices, while Sky’s Alistair Law worried that too much prominence could override what viewers actually wanted to watch.
The Media Act eventually passed, ensuring PSB apps get prominence on smart TV home screens. But by July this year, Ofcom had identified the next battleground: YouTube itself.
In a major report, Ofcom declared traditional public service TV an “endangered species” and called for YouTube to prioritise BBC, ITV and Channel 4 content in UK viewers’ feeds – regardless of personal viewing habits.
As we reported, this could mean more BBC News clips or CBBC children’s shows appearing in your recommendations, even if you’d never shown interest before.
Meanwhile, the government’s internet TV agenda has been accelerating. Freely – the streaming replacement for Freeview that launched in April 2024 – has already reached over half a million weekly users, with two-thirds abandoning their aerial connections entirely.
Research suggests Freely could become the UK’s dominant TV platform by 2030, serving 7 million homes as traditional broadcasting infrastructure gets phased out.
What the Broadcasters Want
The joint letter, published by the Public Service Broadcasters this week, sets out five specific demands that could reshape your viewing experience:
Make British content impossible to miss online. Building on both the smart TV prominence rules and Ofcom’s YouTube recommendations, they want PSB content prioritised “not just smart TVs but also video sharing platforms like YouTube, and on fair commercial terms.” And as Nandy put it this week: “If we need to regulate, we will.”
Prioritise trusted news on social platforms. They want “impartial news” from PSBs to be given prominence on platforms where young people get their information, directly addressing the misinformation concerns that drove Ofcom’s original YouTube recommendations.
Secure long-term funding and support. This includes “sustainable public funding for the BBC” and tax credits for homegrown content that “nurture the UK’s deep talent pool.”
Plan the switch to internet television. The government should set a firm date “very soon” for moving all TV to internet delivery in the 2030s. This builds on the BBC’s Freely initiative and research showing that traditional broadcasting infrastructure is becoming unsustainable.
Remove barriers to partnerships. Let PSBs form strategic alliances with each other and commercial partners to compete globally.
Government Throws Its Weight Behind PSBs
Lisa Nandy’s speech was remarkable for its full-throated defence of public service broadcasting at a time when the BBC faces record licence fee evasion and declining traditional viewership.
“The BBC is a light on the hill for people here and across the world and the best defence against the tide of toxic populism,” she declared, directly contradicting those calling for the broadcaster to be scaled back or privatised.
More significantly, she backed the PSBs’ key demand about YouTube prominence, picking up where Ofcom left off in July.
“We support OFCOM’s recommendation that Public Service Media content should be prominent on major video sharing platforms. If we need to regulate we will.”
The threat is clear – YouTube can cooperate voluntarily or face being legally forced to change its algorithm for UK users, just as other countries like France and Canada have already done with their streaming services.
What This Means for Your Viewing
If these demands become reality, your TV and online viewing experience could change dramatically:
Get ready for BBC News popping up in your YouTube feed – whether you asked for it or not. Instead of the platform’s algorithm deciding what you see based purely on engagement, it could be legally required to surface more BBC content, Channel 4 documentaries, or CBBC children’s shows in your recommendations.
Your trusty Freeview box? It might be gone by the 2030s. The PSBs are demanding a firm switchover date to internet delivery, building on Freely’s rapid growth. Research already shows two-thirds of Freely users have ditched their aerials entirely, choosing streaming over traditional broadcasting. Your current setup could go the same way as analogue TV did in 2012.
News standards could be forced everywhere. Nandy wants broadcast-quality standards applied across “the whole of broadcast media” as traditional boundaries blur. Expect clearer distinctions between news and opinion content, potentially with legal backing.
Your smart TV will definitely prioritise British content. The Media Act already ensures this, but expect the prominence rules to become more aggressive as PSBs push their advantage.
The BBC’s Funding Future
Perhaps most significantly for licence fee payers, Nandy’s speech offered the strongest government commitment to BBC funding in years.
“Through the Charter Review we are determined to ensure the BBC remains relevant to audiences,” she said. “We will look at how to fund it sustainably so it can deliver for all of us.”
This comes despite the funding crisis we covered in July, with licence fee evasion hitting 12.52% – representing around £550 million in lost income.
The BBC collected £3.8 billion in 2024/25, but only because the licence fee price increased to £174.50, not because more people were paying.
The number of TV licences in force actually fell to 23.8 million, down 300,000 from the previous year, while “No Licence Needed” declarations climbed to 3.6 million households.
Interestingly, BBC Director-General Tim Davie revealed that the BBC’s “Our BBC, Our Future” consultation received over 870,000 responses – nearly a quarter of the number of households that have declared they don’t need a licence.
The government will launch its Green Paper on BBC funding “later this year,” formally starting the Charter Review process that will determine the broadcaster’s future beyond 2027.
Why Now?
The unprecedented unity among broadcasters reflects how the digital transition has accelerated beyond their individual ability to respond.
Remember when your TV guide started with BBC One, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5? Those “must-carry” rules ensured PSBs couldn’t be buried beneath other channels.
But streaming devices changed everything – suddenly Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video were taking centre stage on your Fire TV home screen, while traditional Electronic Programme Guides became almost obsolete.
The numbers tell the story. Viewers now spend less than half their time watching traditional TV channels, while YouTube dominates among younger audiences – with 43% of children aged 4-17 watching it weekly, up from 36% in 2022.
Yet traditional broadcasters still make up 41% of all viewing time according to new research, compared to YouTube’s 14% and Netflix’s 8%. The problem isn’t that people have stopped watching BBC and ITV – it’s that they’re increasingly watching through platforms the PSBs don’t control.
The PSBs argue they could add £10 billion to the UK economy by 2035, potentially delivering “more than a quarter” of the government’s investment target for the creative sector. But this requires the “right decisions to be taken now.”
The Tech Giants’ Dilemma
The demands put global platforms in an uncomfortable position. YouTube’s algorithm is famously secretive and designed to maximise engagement and advertising revenue – not promote British culture or public service values.
When we asked Amazon’s Vice President for Entertainment Devices about PSB prominence back in 2022, Daniel Rausch insisted Fire TV already showed BBC and ITV “very prominently” in their interface. But that was before the current regulatory push gained momentum.
Other countries are already forcing the issue. Meta famously pulled news content from Facebook in Canada rather than comply with requirements to feature local journalism, while Australia has successfully mandated platform prominence for news content.
What Happens Next
The PSBs have essentially given the government and tech platforms a warning: “Action is now urgent… The window of opportunity is rapidly closing.”
With the Culture Secretary backing their demands and threatening regulation, the coming months will be important.
The BBC’s Green Paper launch will formally begin the Charter Review process, while pressure mounts on YouTube to voluntarily comply with prominence demands.
The first standalone Freely box launches later this year, providing a streaming-only alternative to traditional Freeview that could accelerate the transition to internet TV.
After years of fighting individual battles – from iPlayer buttons to smart TV prominence to YouTube algorithms – Britain’s broadcasters have finally decided they’re stronger together.
The question now is whether the tech giants will listen, or whether this becomes another regulatory battleground.
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Annoying, but there are ways around this. If YouTube pushes BBC/ITV/4/C5 content, all you have to do is block that channel and it won’t show for you any more. And I’m pretty sure someone will build an add-on to block them in the same way you can block Shorts on YouTube.
I haven’t watched ITV since 2000. I never watch BBC. I used to watch E4 occasionally on Sky, but I haven’t watched a UK TV channel in years and after dropping Sky completely back before the pandemic, I have no intention of ever doing so again.
But we don’t trust them!
BBC, ITV, C4 and 5 News have shown persistent bias in their coverage of many issues, foreign and domestic, and the poor sod TVL payers have had enough and are voting with thier feet and their Direct Debit Cancellations.
If what I’ve seen of the great British TV is anything to go by, then goodbye and good luck. As for the YouTube bit, that’s probably so that dinosaur BBC can make you pay their tax every year, yes it probably does need a major overhaul, but be very careful, people have had enough of their absolute bias, there is no need for broadcasters to put their spin on everything, and they wonder why people are leaving in droves, comical.