{"id":523296,"date":"2026-06-07T15:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T15:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/523296\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T15:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T15:42:12","slug":"the-fight-to-stop-online-only-tv-as-bbc-prepares-for-switch-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/523296\/","title":{"rendered":"The fight to stop online-only TV as BBC prepares for switch off"},"content":{"rendered":"

Voters will punish Labour if the Government\u00a0pushes\u00a0ahead with plans to switch off\u00a0free\u00a0terrestrial TV<\/a>, MPs warned in a letter to the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is expected to green-light a BBC-backed move to shut down the Freeview<\/a> service, used in 10 million homes, as viewers shift to internet-only streaming TV.<\/p>\n

However the plans are causing increasing concern among Labour MPs, who fear a backlash from constituents<\/a> who cannot afford high-speed broadband services to watch TV they currently receive for free.<\/p>\n

An open letter to the Prime Minister, seen by The i Paper, signed\u00a0so far by\u00a017\u00a0MPs\u00a0from all wings of the party, including a close ally of Wes Streeting, warns that pressing ahead with digital switch-off could cost Labour crucial marginal seats at the next election.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe households who depend most heavily on terrestrial TV are disproportionately older, disproportionately female, disproportionately on lower incomes, and disproportionately in the towns and coastal communities where our majorities are thinnest,\u201d reads the letter, signed by MPs including left-winger Cat Smith and Luke Akehurst, a Keir Starmer loyalist\u00a0known for his centrist views.<\/p>\n

The letter continues: \u201cAsking them to take out a broadband contract they cannot comfortably afford, in order to keep watching the television they already have, is not a transition. It is a charge. And it will be read as one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The switch would remove access to more than 70 standard channels, and up to 15 HD channels, including BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, via Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT). <\/p>\n

Cost of TV \u2018could increase by \u00a3200\u2019<\/p>\n

If a broadband subscription was necessary, the cost of television viewing could increase by \u00a3200<\/a> in broadband charges for some homes, according to one estimate.<\/p>\n

The signatories include Joe Morris, who quit as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Streeting when his boss resigned as Health Secretary in a bid to force Starmer out, and is a close ally of the expected leadership challenger.<\/p>\n

\"ForCulture Secretary Lisa Nandy will set out options for a digital TV switch-off from 2034 (Photo: PA)<\/p>\n

The MPs warn: \u201cAcross our constituencies, there is one piece of national infrastructure that households rely on and almost no one talks about: the aerial on the roof. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor pensioners on a fixed income, for families managing tight budgets, for people in rural areas where broadband is patchy or unaffordable, Freeview is not a back-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is still how they watch the news, follow the football, keep company through the day. It costs them nothing beyond the licence fee, and it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Champion and Lorraine Beavers, who has called for Starmer to quit, are among the MPs urging the Government to use a Green Paper setting out options for a switch-off, expected within weeks, to \u201cguarantee the future of terrestrial television beyond 2034, well into the 2040s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"An open letter to the Prime Minister, seen by The i Paper, warns that a digital switch-off could cost Labour crucial marginal seats<\/p>\n

A policy that \u201cquietly removes a universal free service from the people who can least afford to replace it, however well managed, is not one this party should put its name to without a great deal more thought than the debate has so far received,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n

Currently around 10 million homes rely on Freeview to watch TV.\u00a0But the\u00a0shift to online TV viewing\u00a0is accelerating, with the number of UK homes without broadband predicted to fall to just 220,000 by 2034.<\/p>\n

Ministers to set out path to switch-off<\/p>\n

Campaigners against an early switch-off say there will still be around 5 million homes predominantly using Freeview by 2034 \u2013 the year the current\u00a0DTT\u00a0broadcasting licences end \u2013 meaning many people will have to buy a new\u00a0internet-enabled\u00a0TV or set-top box\u00a0and upgrade their broadband connection.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0DCMS\u00a0spokesperson said:\u00a0\u201cWe are committed to ensuring that no-one is left behind as TV viewing increasingly moves to online platforms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why the government is currently working across the TV sector on a long-term sustainable approach to TV distribution in the UK. This will include a decision, as soon as possible, on whether to extend the current commitment to digital terrestrial television beyond 2034.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0i\u00a0Paper understands that\u00a0rather than set a switch-off date, ministers\u00a0will consult publicly on a range of options\u00a0before\u00a0a final decision\u00a0is\u00a0taken. Any switch-off would depend on the universal availability of affordable superfast broadband.<\/p>\n

The Government is committed to achieving nationwide gigabit-capable broadband coverage by 2032, ensuring that online TV is available in all but a handful of hard-to-reach premises.<\/p>\n

Labour MPs putting their name to the letter include Starmer loyalist Perran Moon, Polly Billington, a former special adviser to Ed Miliband, Jess Asato, Cat Eccles, Sarah Smith and Steve Witherden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Voters will punish Labour if the Government\u00a0pushes\u00a0ahead with plans to switch off\u00a0free\u00a0terrestrial TV, MPs warned in a letter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[265],"tags":[2672,18,117,19,17,5446,1332,790,826,128],"class_list":["post-523296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-digital","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-keir-starmer","tag-labour","tag-politics","tag-streaming","tag-tv"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116709592469673190","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}