Voters will punish Labour if the Government pushes ahead with plans to switch off free terrestrial TV, MPs warned in a letter to the Prime Minister.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is expected to green-light a BBC-backed move to shut down the Freeview service, used in 10 million homes, as viewers shift to internet-only streaming TV.
However, the plans are causing increasing concern among Labour MPs, who fear a backlash from constituents who cannot afford high-speed broadband services to watch TV they currently receive for free.
An open letter to the Prime Minister, seen by The i Paper, signed so far by 17 MPs from all wings of the party, including a close ally of Wes Streeting, warns that pressing ahead with digital switch-off could cost Labour crucial marginal seats at the next election.
“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 where our majorities are thinnest,” reads the letter, signed by MPs including left-winger Cat Smith and Luke Akehurst, a Keir Starmer loyalist known for his centrist views.
The letter continues: “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.”
The switch would remove access to more than 70 standard channels, and up to 15 HD channels, including BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, via Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT).
Cost of TV ‘could increase by £200’
If a broadband subscription was necessary, the cost of television viewing could increase by £200 in broadband charges for some homes, according to one estimate.
The signatories include Joe Morris, who quit as parliamentary private secretary to Wes Streeting when his boss resigned as health secretary in a bid to force Starmer out, and is a close ally of the expected leadership challenger.
The MPs warn: “Across our constituencies, there is one piece of national infrastructure that households rely on and almost no one talks about: the aerial on the roof.
“For pensioners on a fixed income, for families managing tight budgets, for people in rural areas where broadband is patchy or unaffordable, Freeview is not a back-up.
“It is still how they watch the news, follow the football, keep company through the day. It costs them nothing beyond the licence fee, and it works.”
Sarah Champion and Lorraine Beavers are among the MPs urging the Government to use a Green Paper setting out options for a switch-off, expected within weeks, to “guarantee the future of terrestrial television beyond 2034, well into the 2040s”.
A policy that “quietly removes a universal free service from the people who can least afford to replace it, however well managed, is not one this party should put its name to without a great deal more thought than the debate has so far received”, they say.
Currently around 10 million homes rely on Freeview to watch TV. But the shift to online TV viewing is accelerating, with the number of UK homes without broadband predicted to fall to just 220,000 by 2034.
Ministers to set out path to switch-off
Campaigners against an early switch-off say there will still be around 5 million homes predominantly using Freeview by 2034 – the year the current DTT broadcasting licences end – meaning many people will have to buy a new internet-enabled TV or set-top box and upgrade their broadband connection.
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring that no one is left behind as TV viewing increasingly moves to online platforms.
“That is why the Government is currently working across the TV sector on a long-term sustainable approach to TV distribution in the UK. This will include a decision, as soon as possible, on whether to extend the current commitment to digital terrestrial television beyond 2034.”
The i Paper understands that rather than set a switch-off date, ministers will consult publicly on a range of options before a final decision is taken. Any switch-off would depend on the universal availability of affordable superfast broadband.
The Government is committed to achieving nationwide gigabit-capable broadband coverage by 2032, ensuring that online TV is available in all but a handful of hard-to-reach premises.
Labour MPs putting their name to the letter include Starmer loyalist Perran Moon, Polly Billington, a former special adviser to Ed Miliband, Jess Asato, Cat Eccles, Sarah Smith and Steve Witherden.
The BBC said that “as Government considers the future of TV, alongside the other PSBs, we are ready to play our part in ensuring that the right conditions are in place, to make sure that nobody is left behind and that the benefits of digital inclusion are realised”.