The BBC's proposal to switch off Freeview by 2034 would force households to take out a broadband subscription to access BBC channels, potentially excluding poorer viewers, warns former ITV executive Christy Swords.
In a letter responding to outgoing director general Tim Davie's comments on the need to preserve universality, Swords argues that the BBC's own plan to end digital terrestrial television (DTT) undermines that goal. Currently, Freeview provides free-to-air TV without a broadband subscription.
Switching off DTT would raise the annual cost of watching UK television to over £500, combining the licence fee with a broadband subscription. This would disproportionately affect the poorest and oldest households, with hundreds of thousands potentially losing access altogether.
Swords suggests the BBC is making this someone else's problem, expecting vulnerable homes to find extra money or qualify for a yet-to-be-funded subsidy. He proposes maintaining Freeview into the 2040s, costing just 1-2% of BBC revenue, as a simple alternative that preserves universality without new public funding.
