The UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has today announced it is working on secondary legislation to implement the Media Act 2024, working to bring the more popular streaming services in the UK under Ofcom’s regulation remit. The move will extend existing requirements around accessibility and content, which are currently directed at linear TV channels, to cover the on-demand market as well.
The DCMS says that any service with more than 500,000 users in the UK will be categorised as a ‘Tier 1’ service, and will need to adhere to the new VOD (video on-demand) standards code. Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ will therefore be affected, as will broadcaster video on-demand (BVOD) services like Channel 4 and ITVX.
This code, based on Ofcom’s existing Broadcasting Code, will state that relevant streaming services must ensure that news is reported accurately and impartially, and they must also protect audiences from harmful or offensive material. Audiences who believe a streaming service has broken these rules will be able to complain to Ofcom, in the same way they’re currently able to report linear programming, and Ofcom will then investigate whether any action is needed, including possible financial penalties.
A new VOD accessibility code, meanwhile, will lay out the minimum accessibility requirements which streaming services must offer. This will include ensuring that at least 80 percent of all content is subtitled, at least ten percent is audio described, and at least five percent is signed.
“The Media Act introduced vital updates to our regulatory framework which this government is committed to implementing,” said Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. “By bringing the most popular video-on-demand services under enhanced regulation by Ofcom, we are strengthening protections for audiences, creating a level playing field for industry and supporting our vibrant media sector that continues to innovate and drive growth across the UK.”
Work continues on the ‘level playing field’
The regulatory change will help address a longstanding complaint from the UK’s linear TV broadcasters — namely that they’re having to compete with well-funded international streamers which face a much looser set of rules they have to comply with in the UK.
It’ll still be a while before these rules come into force. Once Ofcom’s new standards code is published, there will be a one year gap before it comes into effect. For the accessibility code, streamers covered by the code will have four years to meet the requirements laid out by Ofcom, with interim targets after two years.
However, while these changes will help level the playing field somewhat, they still don’t change the fact that the UK’s public service broadcasters (PSBs) have significant obligations which their international peers don’t. In a response to a House of Lords committee enquiry back in 2024 for example, ITV described how it spends over £100 million a year on news services, which don’t make much money and have tight restrictions on running ads. As a result, it effectively needs to make over £100 million elsewhere in the business to pay for these core news services, putting it at a disadvantage compared to the major international streaming platforms.
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