Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the social value to (a) the elderly, (b) rural communities and (c) vulnerable people of free to air broadcast (i) TV and (ii) radio services.

The Government remains committed to the future of free to air TV and radio services. Millions of households across the UK rely on these services, particularly vulnerable people, the elderly and rural communities. We also recognise the crucial role that free-to-air television and radio services play in the wider UK broadcasting system, in particular in helping ensure that public service content continues to be widely available and free-to-air to all audiences.

More detailed data on the usage of free-to-air radio and TV is available from a variety of sources. For example, Ofcom produces its Media Nations report which reviews key trends in the media sector and sets out how audiences are served across the UK. The most recent report was published in August 2023 and can be found here. Ofcom also publishes the results of a number of annual surveys addressing these issues, as well as an interactive data set in the form of its annual Communications Market Report. Many of these publications include relevant analysis broken down by age group and/or geographic area.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport also commissions and publishes its own research on a range of topics, including in relation to radio and TV. For example, the Digital Radio and Audio Review (published October 2021) looked at the landscape for radio over the coming years, and noted that traditional radio, including FM services, was valued by many listeners – particularly those who were older or vulnerable.

We have also recently launched a major research and engagement programme looking at how UK audiences will get their TV in the decades to come, including digital terrestrial television (DTT), satellite, cable, and online.

Before any decisions about the future of terrestrial television are made, close consideration will be given to how any changes would impact audiences, and especially those who rely on DTT as their primary means of watching television.