![\"Adults](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_TV-Licence.jpg\")
Adults aged 75 and older watched an average of 5 hours 41 minutes of broadcaster television a day in 2024(Image: PA)<\/p>\nFree-to-air terrestrial broadcast TV is only secure until the early 2030s, when licences expire, with campaigners demanding that traditional TV continues alongside any streamingAdults aged 75 and older watched an average of 5 hours 41 minutes of broadcaster television a day in 2024(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
Culture Minister Sir Chris Bryant has said that everyone in Britain must have access to free-to-air television<\/a>.<\/p>\n Free-to-air terrestrial broadcast TV <\/a>is only secure until the early 2030s, when current licences expire. The Broadcast 2040+ coalition, whose members include the Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) and the Rural Services Network, is urging the Government to commit to a hybrid future for TV and radio services, ensuring continued universal access to terrestrial TV alongside internet streaming, so that no one is left-behind.<\/p>\n Sir Chris said free TV is an \u201cessential part of modern society\u201d but failed to say what model the Government might support, prompting campaigners to demand that traditional TV must continue alongside any streaming. It comes after reports of all the celebrities rumoured to be joining BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n READ MORE: BBC viewers cringe at Kemi Badenoch’s ‘fields of wheat’ moment<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n READ MORE: Strictly Come Dancing star pulls out of show as he makes career announcement<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Asked if he could assure Brits that terrestrial TV wouldn’t be ditched when licences expire in the early 2030s, Sir Chris told The Mirror<\/a>: “Well, whatever we end up with, we have to make sure that everybody is able to have free-to-air television.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can’t have the BBC<\/a> and ITV<\/a> and Channel Four and Channel Five and channels like that completely disappearing from elderly people’s television screens.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to make sure whatever system we end up with in the future is one that enables everybody to have access to high quality television. I’m sure that’s what we’ll have. We’ve managed several of these transitions in the past quite well, and we need to manage that transition as well.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cI think access to free to air broadcasting is an essential part of a modern society, just as access to the internet is, and I think we need to take the whole of the country with us.”<\/p>\n Campaigners have raised concerns that older people and poorer families could be left behind if they\u2019re forced to switch over to internet streaming, due to lack of consumer awareness, or not being able to afford costs of equipment or installation of fibre connection.<\/p>\n Adults aged 75 and older watched an average of 5 hours 41 minutes of broadcaster television a day in 2024, up 3% since 2023, according to media regulator Ofcom\u2019s 2025 media report.<\/p>\n Be the first with news from Mirror Politics<\/p>\n BLUESKY: <\/strong>Follow our Mirror Politics account on Bluesky here<\/a>. And follow our Mirror Politics team here – Lizzy Buchan<\/a>, Mikey Smith<\/a>, Kevin Maguire<\/a>, Sophie Huskisson<\/a>, Dave Burke<\/a> and Ashley Cowburn<\/a>.<\/p>\n POLITICS WHATSAPP: <\/strong>Be first to get the biggest bombshells and breaking news by joining our Politics WhatsApp group here.<\/a> We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you want to leave our community, you can check out any time you like. If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice<\/a>.<\/p>\n NEWSLETTER: <\/strong>Or sign up here to the Mirror’s Politics newsletter<\/a> for all the best exclusives and opinions straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n![\"Sir](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_Sir-Chris-Bryant-comments.jpg\")
Sir Chris Bryant said: ‘We have to make sure that everybody is able to have free-to-air television'(Image: PA)<\/p>\n