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The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today revealed which connected TV platforms will be subject to the Media Act’s (2024) new online availability and prominence regime, which requires them to ensure that BBC iPlayer and any other designated public service broadcaster (PSB) TV players (inc. public service content) are “available, prominent, and easily accessible“.
Ofcom remains of the view that a platform must have at least 700,000 active users if it is to be considered to have a significant number of users and thus become subject to the requirements. “We consider that setting a threshold at this level will ensure that public service content is widely available,” said the regulator’s statement.
The regulator said they did recognise that, for some platforms, multiple versions may be in use. In those cases, they’ve recommended that the designations should apply only to versions available on the market in July 2025, when their consultation was published, as well as any subsequent versions.
The biggest change this time is that Ofcom has added the new broadband-based live TV streaming service Freely to the list, which is already supported by most of the major UK TV broadcasters (BBC, ITV etc.) and is an evolution – not (yet) a replacement – for the existing Freeview service (inc. Freeview Play and Freesat). No surprise there, then.
The following 15 connected TV platforms have been designated
(plus any subsequent versions of these platforms)➤ Amazon Fire TV OS 6, 7 and 8
➤ Android TV 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14
➤ Apple TV OS 18
➤ Freely
➤ Google TV 10, 11, 12 and 14
➤ LG WebOS 22, 23, 24 and 25
➤ Roku OS 14
➤ Samsung Smart Hub (Tizen) 7, 8 and 9
➤ Sky Entertainment OS (Sky Glass and Sky Stream)
➤ Sky Q
➤ VIDAA OS U6, 7, 8 and 9
➤ Virgin Media Horizon
➤ Virgin Media TiVo on V6 ITE
➤ YouView on EE TV (Sagemcom ITE) and YouView on Sony ITE
Prior to the introduction of the new Media Act, the old regulatory framework for PSBs focussed exclusively on linear television channels. The new regime seeks to build on that by bringing into scope the PSBs’ TV players (IPS), along with the internet connected TV platforms (Television Selection Services or ‘TSS’) on which those IPS are included.