Ofcom sets out rules forcing smart TVs to give British broadcasters top billing

British public service broadcasters will be guaranteed a place on the first screen of every smart television sold in the UK from July 2027 under a code published by Ofcom on Monday, in a move the regulator says will stop domestic channels being “buried behind whoever has paid the most for the remote control button”.

The code, which follows powers granted under the 2024 Media Act, requires television manufacturers and operating-system providers to carry the apps of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and the Welsh-language broadcaster S4C in a position Ofcom defines as “prominent”: on the default home screen, without scrolling, and without being displaced by paid promotional tiles. Smart sticks and set-top boxes with more than 500,000 UK users are also covered.

Ofcom’s director of broadcasting policy, Fiona Macrae, said the regulator’s research had found that 68% of viewing in UK households with a connected television now begins on the device’s home screen rather than a channel guide, and that in a test of 14 popular models, the public service apps were on the first screen of only four. “The home screen is the new electronic programme guide,” she said. “If you cannot find a channel, for most people it does not exist.”

The manufacturers’ trade body said the rules were “unworkable in their current form” because home screens were set globally and the UK was asking for a layout that did not exist anywhere else. A spokesperson said the industry supported the principle but would seek a longer transition and a narrower definition of the home screen. One large manufacturer, which did not want to be named, said it sold the same operating system in 90 countries and had been told by Ofcom that “the UK is the second market to ask for this and will not be the last”.

The broadcasters welcomed the code. A senior executive at one commercial public service broadcaster said promotional placement on smart TV home screens now cost the industry “tens of millions a year collectively” and that the code would redirect that money into programmes. Channel 4’s chief operating officer said in a statement that the decision “recognises that a public service broadcaster that cannot be found is not serving the public”.

The code also requires that voice assistants on the devices return a public service broadcaster’s live channel when a viewer asks for it by name, and that manufacturers do not degrade the quality or start-up speed of the apps relative to their own services. Ofcom will be able to fine companies up to £250,000 or 5% of UK revenue for breaches.

A consultation on the detailed technical standards closes on 20 November. The regulator said it expected “robust representations”.