The UK government has confirmed the cut-off date for Freeview services could be as soon as 2034, according to widespread media reports.
Currently the largest television service in the country, Freeview is used by 13.6 million people, with 40 per cent of households accessing its content. The government is exploring ways to discontinue terrestrial TV and transition to internet-based services, although concerns have been raised that vulnerable groups be left behind by the move.
According to reports, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) confirmed its intention in an answer to a written Parliamentary question from Crawley MP Peter Lamb. However, MPs are said to have expressed their opposition to the plan in a letter, reportedly seen by The I Paper. Signed by 17 MPs, the letter said: “The 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…
“…Asking 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.”
A government report, Future of TV distribution, published in November 2025 suggested five per cent of viewers would be left behind by switching off terrestrial services.
