Consultation: Designation of Public Service Broadcaster Internet Programme Services

Public service broadcasters hold a unique place in UK society. They provide trusted and accurate news, and a diverse range of high-quality content by, for, and about people in the UK which brings audiences together. It is therefore critical that viewers can easily find and discover public service content.

Statement published 22 July 2025

The existing regulatory framework has ensured that the PSBs’ linear television channels have been widely available and easy to find in electronic programme guides for decades. However, until the passing of the Media Act 2024, there were no rules to secure their prominence in online media environments.

The Media Act 2024 fills this gap by introducing a new online availability and prominence regime for PSB TV players distributed on connected TV platforms (termed television selection services under the Act). This new regime will require those television selection services designated by the Secretary of State to ensure that public service broadcaster TV players that have been designated, and their content, are available, prominent, and easily accessible.

The first phase of the implementation is therefore focused on designating those services that fall within the regime. Ofcom’s role is to designate the commercial PSB TV players, known as ‘internet programme services’ (IPS), which satisfy the conditions set out in the legislation to benefit from the new availability and prominence regime. BBC iPlayer will be automatically designated under the Act. Before considering applications for designation from the PSBs, we must publish a statement about the methods we will apply in assessing which IPS should be designated.

In February, we published a consultation setting out our proposed Statement.  Stakeholders’ responses were largely supportive of the draft Statement. Having considered these responses, we have decided to make minor changes to clarify what information we require about the promotion and discoverability of public service remit content. We have also made some amendments to the application process.

Today we are publishing the final Statement of Methods, together with a document summarising the comments we received about our proposed Statement, our responses to those comments and the rationale for our decision.  We intend to issue an application form for IPS designation later this year.

Related page

Consultation: Statement of Programme Policy and Statement of Media Content Policy guidance