Latest in Ofcom

Ofcom “cannot and should not regulate the culture wars,” Michael Grade, the new Chair of the UK broadcasting regulator, has said. Grade, a broadcasting veteran who has overseen BBC One, ITV and Channel 4 across a 50-year career, said Ofcom’s focus will be on allowing important debate to be conducted in an open-minded…

More than 350,000 households ditched SVoD subs last quarter, according to regulator Ofcom’s annual Media Nations UK report, which showed a record year for British high-end TV production. While still high at 19.2M, the proportion of UK households subscribing to an SVoD fell by 1pp to 67% across the quarter, coming as…

TikTok is an established provider of entertainment worldwide, but is also becoming increasingly popular as a news source with UK adults. British broadcasting regulator Ofcom's annual report reveals that the social media platform is the fastest growing news source – with 7% of adults using it for news, up from 1% just…

British television viewers already complain loud and heartily about the amount of adverts on the box (notwithstanding it is the ads that pay for the content they're enjoying). Now they could face longer and more frequent ad breaks following a review of broadcasting rules by the regulator Ofcom, as part of a report on…

Updated with BBC response: The BBC must reform its operating license to focus on online services or "become out of step with audience behavior and technology developments," according to British media regulator Ofcom. Failure to act "could stand in the way of the BBC's transformation," it added in a series of proposals…

Michael Grade may be one of the British television industry's elder statesmen, but this does not necessarily make him the right person to lead the country's TV regulator Ofcom, apparently. Professor Jean Seaton, the BBC's official historian, labelled the 79-year-old former producer turned TV executive "too old to be…

Interested parties have already started lining up to enquire about buying UK broadcaster Channel 4, following this week's pull on the first lever of the process of sale by the British Government. After UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries published the policy document 'White Paper' outlining the terms of sale, JP…

Streaming platforms are set to be regulated like linear broadcasters for the first time, under the UK Government's new plans, set out in a 'White Paper' policy document revealed this week. The UK regulator Ofcom, which currently monitors content on network television, will be responsible for applying and enforcing…

Piers Morgan has called his controversial exit last year from British commercial station ITV  "a farce", but an episode he hopes focused everyone's minds on the importance of free speech. He also slammed ITV for "censoring him", following his comments on morning show Good Morning Britain regarding the Duchess of…

The new chair of UK broadcaster Channel 4 has been appointed. Media regulator Ofcom has confirmed that businessman Sir Ian Cheshire will be joining the board of the channel on April 11, taking over from interim chair Dawn Airey. In appointing Cheshire, Channel 4 will have the benefit of his decades of business…

British broadcasting heavyweight Michael Grade, who has overseen every major UK broadcaster, has been appointed Chair of media and broadcasting regulator Ofcom, bringing to an end an at-times controversial hiring process that has been running for more than a year. Grade, a former BBC Controller and Chair, ITV…

Russian news channel RT’s license to broadcast in the UK has been revoked with immediate effect by the regulator Ofcom, which said it “cannot be satisfied that RT can be a responsible broadcaster in the current circumstances.” RT has already been pulled by some UK platforms, by EU networks and on YouTube across the…