A century ago, on 26th January 1926, John Logie Baird gave his first public demonstration of television. Though crude by today’s standards due to flickering and being limited to a monochrome image transmitted across a room, it marked the beginning of the television we enjoy today.
In previous articles, I highlighted the challenges faced by Public Service Media (PSM), particularly around funding. Only a handful of countries around the world have legislation for license fees, and even then, collecting them can be a tedious task. Despite these challenges, any publicly funded PSM should command the public’s trust, remain independent and accountable, and represent all communities across the country it operates in.
Here, we analyse and discuss some of the strategies that, in my view, work well for most broadcast and media institutions as they navigate 2026. Observations made in one country or a few countries cannot be generalised globally.
While managing the rising costs of production and delivering content, broadcasters must identify distribution mechanisms that are efficient, effective and inclusive. The broadcast and media industry recognised long ago the challenges of a fragmented audience market and has responded by distributing content across multiple platforms.
However, the cost of distribution rises with each additional platform. Over the past half-century, broadcast service delivery has evolved from terrestrial networks to include cable, satellite and more recently, online or broadband services, commonly referred to as streaming.
In previous discussions, we highlighted the challenges facing broadcasters, and the need to transition to broadband as the dominant, or even the sole method of content distribution. Countries that have successfully completed the analogue-to-digital terrestrial television transition can offer valuable lessons and strategies for planning and implementing the shift from terrestrial television to online-only delivery.
This transition must consider social requirements such as accessibility, universal access, and inclusion. Achieving these goals requires meeting several essential conditions. Broadband must be widely available to citizens at an affordable price, with sufficient speed and capacity to serve the majority of the population. It requires commitments from all stakeholders and support for connecting those who are currently unconnected. The process is analogous to how countries successfully implemented Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and completely switched off analogue broadcasting services.
Strategies that proved effective include educating the public and providing essential financial and technical support to communities, such as subsidised set-top-boxes (STBs) for households that cannot afford them.
While some countries have successfully implemented DTT, many have yet to make the transition, and therefore have little or no experience in handling a shift to online-only delivery. Even countries that have completed the DTT transition with Analogue Switch Off (ASO) often lack sufficient broadband penetration to deliver broadcast and media services to every citizen.
The UK, it would seem, is one country preparing for online-only broadcast and media distribution in the near future. Broadband connectivity in the country is increasing, including through fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), and households requiring special assistance are being supported. All stakeholders are committed to ensuring a smooth transition without leaving anyone behind. While this is the goal, practical mechanisms are still in development. Even UK lawmakers acknowledged in debates late last year that DTT would not simply be switched off without solutions for senior audiences and financially vulnerable communities.
Initiatives like Freely, a collaboration among the UK’s public service broadcasters (PSBs), show how streaming online broadcast services can be made simple and familiar, much like Freeview that was implemented two decades ago in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. It is important to note, however, that the DTT or OTT operations of one country cannot be directly generalised to another.
Grace Boswood, Technology & Distribution Director of Channel 4 in the UK, highlights the power of partnership, noting that Freely has reached one million weekly users. She acknowledges the contributions of Everyone TV, Freely, Freeview, Freesat and, of course, BBC, ITV and Five.
In many countries all over the world, the first digital switchover from Analogue Terrestrial Television (ATV) to DTT was completed within a reasonable time-frame and budget. This transition freed up spectrum — often referred to as the digital dividend — worth millions or even billions, enabling 4G and 5G mobile services, while leaving no viewer behind. Effective coordination, collaboration, proportionate public funding, and ambitious government leadership allowed these countries to overcome skepticism, achieve the challenging transition, and realise significant benefits for both broadcasters and citizens.
Most broadcasters operate with limited funding. The resources spent maintaining terrestrial distribution systems watched by ever-fewer viewers are resources that could instead be invested in programming. This is why proponents of a future transition, including PSBs and digital inclusion charities, argue that now is the moment to commit to an IP-based future. Doing so would provide certainty for planning and an opportunity to close the digital divide.
However, there will be impacts on broadcast network providers, as some of their infrastructure and staff may become redundant. For this reason, they may argue that a DTT terrestrial TV switchoff that takes place too soon could cut off millions of viewers, even while acknowledging that the transition is inevitable.
The question remains: when countries value DTT as a trusted information service that is less vulnerable to threats such as cyber-attacks, and if they have greater control over it, can it ever be completely switched off?
Streaming television broadcasting services online offer clear benefits, including greater choice of content, increased flexibility, and richer features such as voice control, personalisation, and enhanced accessibility.
As DTT costs the same to operate whether it serves several million viewers or only several thousand, the traditional one-to-many distribution model at a predictable cost for broadcasters becomes less sustainable as audiences migrate online. As programme channels move to online platforms, DTT’s appeal diminishes further. This risks creating a two-tier television system, with “streaming haves” (having access to terrestrial services or not) and “terrestrial have-nots” (having access to streaming services or not), widening inequalities in access to television services.
The challenge lies in ensuring that PSBs can continue to invest sufficiently in original, high-quality local programming that reflects local lives and concerns, while upholding the principle of universality. This is a challenge that most regulators, including Ofcom in the UK, openly acknowledge.
Do we need to retain DTT as a safety net for another decade or two, or, just as we once introduced DTT, should we now plan for the delivery of online broadcast services for all, while ensuring that no one is left behind?
Television is no longer defined by a device, a schedule, or a single distribution model. The focus of broadcasting has shifted from the broadcaster to the audience. While technology has transformed beyond recognition, the power of storytelling and its ability to bring people together remains as vital today as it was when John Logie Baird first tuned his vision, curiosity, and sense of public purpose into reality.
This is an article published on 12 February 130 PM NZ time by APB+DistributionNews & Events
Written by an Executive Committee Member of MTN, FIET and CEng of IET Dr Amal Punchihewa
