Consultation: designation of television selection services - principles and methods for Ofcom’s recommendations

Public service broadcasters hold a unique place in UK society. They provide trusted and accurate news, and a diverse range of high-quality content by, for, and about people in the UK which brings audiences together. It is therefore critical that viewers can easily find and discover public service content.

The existing regulatory framework has ensured that the PSBs’ linear television channels have been widely available and easy to find in electronic programme guides for decades. However, until the passing of the Media Act 2024, there were no rules to secure their prominence in online media environments.

The Media Act 2024 fills this gap by introducing a new online availability and prominence regime for PSB TV apps distributed on connected TV platforms. This new regime will require those platforms designated by the Secretary of State to ensure that PSB TV apps designated by Ofcom and their content, are available, prominent, and easily accessible.

The first phase of the implementation is therefore focused on designating those services that fall within the regime.

When it comes to TV platforms, referred to in the Act as ‘television selection services’, our role is to provide a report  to the Secretary of State setting out our recommendations on designation of these services. Before doing so, we must publish a statement about the principles and methods we will apply in preparing our report, and we are now consulting on such a statement.

In this consultation, we welcome input on the proposed methods and principles that we intend to apply in our report. We also seek views and evidence on our emerging thinking on how we will approach our first report if the principles and methods proposed in this consultation are implemented.  

Responding to this consultation

Please submit responses using the response form no later than 5pm 5 February 2025.