As set out in the legislation.gov.uk text, the Regulated Electronic Programme Guide (Prescribed Description and Transitional Arrangements) Regulations 2026 were made on 15 May 2026, laid before Parliament on 19 May 2026, and come into force on 16 June 2026. The instrument was signed by Ian Murray, Minister of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Secretary of State made the Regulations under sections 211A(2)(c) and 402(3) of the Communications Act 2003. The instrument also records that OFCOM was consulted, as required by section 211A(6). The Regulations extend across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The legal purpose of the instrument is narrow but important. It sets out the prescribed description for an electronic programme guide under section 211A(2)(c) of the Communications Act 2003. Where a guide meets that description, it becomes a regulated electronic programme guide within the statutory broadcasting framework. The explanatory note on legislation.gov.uk states that section 211 of the 2003 Act gives OFCOM functions to regulate certain services under the Communications Act 2003 and the Broadcasting Acts 1990 and 1996. Those services include regulated electronic programme guides and, in some cases, television programme services that are accessible through them. In policy terms, this instrument is about where the regulatory boundary now sits.
Regulation 2 applies a four-condition test. The first condition is about how the guide is accessed. It must be available by means of a television, or by means of a streaming device connected to a television. The Regulations define a streaming device in technical terms. It must be capable of connecting to the internet, designed primarily to let the user select and access programmes and display programmes, and not able to display programmes by itself. That wording matters because it limits the rule to TV-linked devices of a particular kind, rather than every internet-connected service or every screen-based interface.
The second condition is territorial. United Kingdom users must form one of the target markets for the electronic programme guide, or the only target market. The Regulations define a United Kingdom user as a user who is in the United Kingdom. That means the test is not based only on where a service can be reached in practice. The intended market is part of the legal assessment. For operators, that points to questions around product design, market positioning and audience targeting, not just technical availability.
The third condition connects the new category to guides that are already inside the statutory system. A guide will qualify if it is provided by a person who, on 16 June 2026, is already providing a regulated electronic programme guide under section 211A(2)(a), or by a person associated with that provider. Association is limited to corporate control relationships, using the meaning of control in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Broadcasting Act 1990. A guide may also qualify if it can be accessed by means of a regulated electronic programme guide, including a guide that becomes regulated because of these Regulations. The fourth condition then excludes any guide that is already regulated under section 211A(2)(a). Read together, those provisions widen the regime in a linked and structured way, rather than creating a separate parallel category.
Regulation 3 then delays the point at which licences are required. Where a regulated electronic programme guide falls within section 211A(2)(c) and is provided directly by an existing regulated provider, or by an associated person covered by regulation 2(6)(a), the licence requirement does not apply until 1 December 2026. Where the guide is instead brought in because it is accessible through a regulated guide under regulation 2(6)(b), the deadline is later: 1 June 2027. There is a further transitional step for television services. A person providing a relevant regulated television service does not need a licence until 1 December 2027 where that service is not itself a regulated electronic programme guide and only becomes licensable because it is accessible through a guide falling within section 211A(2)(c). The instrument therefore stages compliance over roughly 18 months from commencement.
For broadcasting and platform compliance teams, the practical question is not simply whether a guide is used on a television. The legal test turns on all four conditions, including UK market targeting and the relationship between the guide and an existing regulated guide or provider. Corporate group structure may be relevant, and so may the route by which a user reaches a service. The explanatory note also points out that digital television programme services accessible by means of a regulated electronic programme guide may fall within OFCOM's functions unless they are exempt foreign services under section 211B of the Communications Act 2003. That makes the transition dates important not only for guide operators, but also for service providers whose licensing position changes because of how viewers access them.
The Government states in the note accompanying the instrument that no full impact assessment has been produced because no, or no significant, impact on the private sector, voluntary sector or community bodies is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum is available alongside the Regulations on legislation.gov.uk. In effect, the 2026 Regulations do two things. They define which additional electronic programme guides now count as regulated, and they provide a phased timetable for when guide operators and affected television services must hold the relevant broadcasting licences. For firms active in connected television distribution, the immediate task before and after 16 June 2026 is to test products and service routes against the statutory wording, then plan to the December 2026, June 2027 and December 2027 deadlines.