As most TV viewers tune in via broadband, will 2034 signal the death of Freeview?

Thu, 29 Jan 2026

The aerial-accessed service has a fast-dwindling audience but when exactly to switch the platform off is proving highly divisive

For almost quarter of a century Freeview has enabled viewers to access television from the nation’s biggest broadcasters almost anywhere in the UK for no charge.

Despite it still being the UK’s largest TV platform, used in more than 16m homes and on 10m main household sets, those same broadcasters are now calling for the service to be switched off in as little as eight years’ time.