[Jon]

People are underestimating how confusing this will be for many people. I know many  people who don’t know how to type something into a Tv or access an built in app or use a fire stick. It’s way more of a change than digital switchover.

Don’t disagree with that, but that will apply to even less of the population by the end of the 2030s. 

I would envision some sort of connected EPG for online linear channels that comes as standard with all new TVs . So you could still end up with the same user experience people have now for the end user. They’d just have to plug their TV into some sort of router. 

I think the minute delay thing is only really an issue in occasional and very unique circumstances and one that is likely to be rectified to some extent in the future.

[Stooky Bill]

This is nothing new really, not should it be unexpected to anyone who has seen how viewing habits and technology have changed over the past 10 years.

However care needs to be taken to distinguish between linear and on demand - Internet delivery doesn't just mean on demand. There will always been some room for linear 'channels' or streams whether that's for news, events or programming that can only be live. I'm sure a channel like Cbeebies will still exist as a linear schedule too, that wouldn't work that well as in demand

For example ITV recently effectively launched about 10 linear channels, they're all Internet based

[Jon]

I wouldn’t be surprised if there were ultimately a return to a more analogue-style offering of BBC One, Two and maybe some form of BBC News/World. In fact I’d say the same will go for all channels - the extra channels from all the networks were very much a product of the 2000s, and on-demand is eroding the need for them.

I actually think that online delivery could see the BBC launching many more linear channels. It would be accepted that most will watch content on demand, but the likes of the BBC could quite easily launch 20 or so fast channels to satisfy casual viewers, so you could quite easily have the CBBC and BBC News fast channels run for next to nothing. I would assume the reason the BBC haven’t got into this in a big way so far is because of charter limitations. Although they effective launched audio equivalents of fast channels on BBC Sounds.

[Neil Jones]

Also live events is still a minute behind. No way will people be able for sport to be so far behind and people at the event to have plenty of time to tweet a development before they see it.

Then maybe people shouldn't be looking at Twitter while watching live events because it "might" be spoiled.
That's the same as using the pause feature on Sky/Virgin/TIVO and then wondering why the cheers from the neighbours don't match what's going on on your screen.

[Newshound47]

Also live events is still a minute behind. No way will people be able for sport to be so far behind and people at the event to have plenty of time to tweet a development before they see it.

Then maybe people shouldn't be looking at Twitter while watching live events because it "might" be spoiled.
That's the same as using the pause feature on Sky/Virgin/TIVO and then wondering why the cheers from the neighbours don't match what's going on on your screen.

It’s still not a sign of progress that an event is so far behind when it used to be actually live.

[Kojak]

I wouldn’t be surprised if there were ultimately a return to a more analogue-style offering of BBC One, Two and maybe some form of BBC News/World. In fact I’d say the same will go for all channels - the extra channels from all the networks were very much a product of the 2000s, and on-demand is eroding the need for them.

I actually think that online delivery could see the BBC launching many more linear channels. It would be accepted that most will watch content on demand, but the likes of the BBC could quite easily launch 20 or so fast channels to satisfy casual viewers, so you could quite easily have the CBBC and BBC News fast channels run for next to nothing. I would assume the reason the BBC haven’t got into this in a big way so far is because of charter limitations. Although they effective launched audio equivalents of fast channels on BBC Sounds.

I should clarify - I meant on traditional TV. I can see there being some compromise where much of Freeview’s capacity is closed/replaced by 5G, but one or two multiplexes are kept in operation with a greatly reduced number of channels. Much more like analogue TV than what we currently have.

[Newshound47]

People are underestimating how confusing this will be for many people. I know many  people who don’t know how to type something into a Tv or access an built in app or use a fire stick. It’s way more of a change than digital switchover.

Don’t disagree with that, but that will apply to even less of the population by the end of the 2030s. 

I would envision some sort of connected EPG for online linear channels that comes as standard with all new TVs . So you could still end up with the same user experience people have now for the end user. They’d just have to plug their TV into some sort of router. 

I think the minute delay thing is only really an issue in occasional and very unique circumstances and one that is likely to be rectified to some extent in the future.

Maybe but as there not on new tv’s being made yet that is not going to be the majority of people until 2030 or after and those who would be more confused don’t change TV as much as others. I know people who still have 4:3 TV’s.

[Jon]

Well obviously it’s not going to happen overnight and the broadcasters will have to work around any challenges to make sure very few are left behind. But there is obviously going to be a point it’s just not going to be justifiable to keep terrestrial broadcasts going.

[strollfan]

People seem to be wilfully misunderstanding this entirely - this is entirely about futureproofing and the future of visual media, and anything about "switching off" linear TV is not a plan so much as it is a prediction of how the media landscape will unfold. There is no plan and there is no timeline for any of this, it is simply a prediction of what a continuation of current trends may lead to.

[Brekkie]

Worth noting that six months ago the BBC officially backed OFCOM's proposals for Freeview to continue beyond the current 2030 deadline.

www.ofcom.org.uk 


Who knows though - there is a difference between 2030 and 2039 and the TV distribution model has changed significantly in the last 12 years since DSO. Personally I think internet delivery still has so many limitations in delivering linear content compared to traditional broadcast methods - something events like the World Cup really show up with the significant streaming delays and services being vulnerable to increased demand. However in a non-linear environment the advantages are quite obvious.