The Television Selection Services (Designation) Regulations 2026 are the next operational step in the Media Act framework. The effect is to bring major connected TV platforms within the statutory category of regulated television selection services, moving the prominence regime beyond older linear channel guides and into the interfaces viewers now use to reach television apps and programmes. (legislation.gov.uk) That change matters because Part 2 of the Media Act 2024 inserted a new Part 3A into the Communications Act 2003 to create an online prominence regime. The legislation was designed to cover the route by which viewers discover and open public service broadcaster players on connected televisions, not only the traditional electronic programme guide. (legislation.gov.uk)
In statutory terms, a television selection service is an internet-delivered service connected to internet television equipment that presents internet programme services and allows users to select and access them. The Government’s explanatory notes say the regime is expected to reach popular smart TV user interfaces as well as connected TV devices such as streaming sticks and set-top boxes. (legislation.gov.uk) The policy target is therefore the interface layer that decides what viewers see first when a connected television switches on. Ofcom’s final report says designated platforms will be required to ensure that BBC iPlayer and other public service broadcaster players later designated by Ofcom, together with their public service content, are available, prominent and easily accessible. (ofcom.org.uk)
The designated list follows Ofcom’s final report to the Secretary of State. It covers Amazon Fire TV OS 6, 7 and 8; Android TV 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14; Apple TV OS 18; Freely; Google TV 10, 11, 12 and 14; LG WebOS 22, 23, 24 and 25; Roku OS 14; Samsung Smart Hub (Tizen) 7, 8 and 9; Sky Entertainment OS; Sky Q; VIDAA OS U6, 7, 8 and 9; Virgin Media Horizon; Virgin Media TiVo on V6 equipment; YouView on EE TV using Sagemcom equipment; and YouView on Sony equipment. (ofcom.org.uk) For policy and industry readers, that is a broad cross-section of the UK connected TV market rather than a narrow intervention aimed at one device class. It reaches smart TV operating systems, streaming-device software and operator-controlled television environments, which is consistent with the Government’s stated expectation that the regime should capture the interfaces most viewers use to access television online. (legislation.gov.uk)
Ofcom based its recommendation on a significance test built around active use in UK homes. The regulator said a platform should generally have at least 700,000 active users to count as having a significant number of users, and it added Freely to the final list after reviewing newer data during consultation. (ofcom.org.uk) The regulator also chose an individual designation model rather than a broader category description. Its view was that naming services one by one would give providers, broadcasters and other market participants clearer legal certainty in the first set of regulations, while still allowing the designation list to be reviewed later if usage patterns change. (ofcom.org.uk)
One of the more technical features is the link to device vintages. Ofcom’s proposed implementation table, which the regulations follow in substance, ties each service to internet television equipment first made available in the UK on or after a specified date. Those dates range from 1 January 2015 for Apple TV OS and Roku OS to 30 April 2024 for Freely, with other cut-offs including 1 January 2018 for Amazon Fire TV OS, 1 January 2019 for Android TV, 1 January 2020 for Google TV, Virgin Media Horizon and YouView on Sony equipment, 1 January 2021 for Sky Entertainment OS, VIDAA OS and YouView on EE TV, 1 January 2022 for LG WebOS, and 1 January 2023 for Samsung Smart Hub (Tizen). (ofcom.org.uk) The practical result is that the regime is not framed simply by a service name. It is framed by the version history of the software as carried on relevant smart TVs, set-top boxes and streaming devices, which gives the designation a more workable boundary for compliance and enforcement. (ofcom.org.uk)
For public service broadcasters, the immediate effect is not that every app moves to the front of every home screen at once. The legal structure first identifies the platforms that are in scope. Ofcom then uses separate powers to designate which internet programme services benefit from the regime, while its draft code of practice sets out how regulated platforms could meet their duties on prominence and accessibility in day-to-day interface design. (legislation.gov.uk) Ofcom’s January 2026 consultation makes clear that the next phase is about concrete operational standards, not only statutory wording. The consultation covers a draft code of practice for regulated television selection services and draft guidance on how designated platform providers and public service broadcasters should act consistently with the statutory agreement objectives when entering into carriage arrangements. (ofcom.org.uk)
The Regulations therefore do two jobs at once. Legally, they switch on the designation limb of Part 3A of the Communications Act 2003. Operationally, they tell platform providers that public service broadcasting prominence is no longer confined to legacy channel guides but now reaches the connected TV entry points through which viewers increasingly find programmes. (legislation.gov.uk) For manufacturers, platform operators and broadcasters, the next task is compliance design rather than statutory interpretation. The live issues now sit with Ofcom’s final code of practice, the designation of qualifying public service broadcaster internet programme services, and the way carriage, prominence and accessibility disputes are handled once the regime is fully in force. (ofcom.org.uk)