Freeview 2034 switch-off: Wales not ready, new poll warns

The TV signal that reaches almost every home in Wales could be switched off as early as 2034, and new polling suggests Wales does not believe the broadband exists to replace it. Three quarters of Welsh adults (76%) say the Welsh Government and Senedd should formally oppose the 2034 switch-off date, according to a survey carried out for the Broadcast 2040+ campaign, rising to 86% among Welsh speakers. Just 13% say they should not. More than half (55%) are not confident the internet where they live could cope if everyone had to swap Freeview for streaming, and two thirds (66%) think the decision would be made by 'people in London who don't understand Wales'. Advertisement The UK Government is weighing the long-term future of terrestrial television, which the campaign says reaches 98.5% of households, in its media green paper Watch this Space. A switch-off from as early as 2034 is among the options on the table, and the consultation closed on 31 August. Wales is more exposed than most of the UK, the campaign argues, pointing to Ofcom research finding 23% of Welsh homes rely on an aerial alone, with no cable, satellite or internet TV service. The broadband gap underneath those fears is real: figures highlighted by the campaign put full-fibre coverage in rural Wales at 59%, against 83% in urban areas, and City Deal data published in August showed Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire still trailing Swansea by more than ten points. Advertisement S4C, the Six Nations and the Eisteddfod: what Wales watches through the aerial Nine in ten Welsh speakers (90%) say it is important that S4C stays free to watch through an aerial, and two thirds (67%) call it very important. Across Wales as a whole, 66% agree. The polling also points at what travels through that signal: 68% of Welsh adults have watched Wales in the Six Nations live on free-to-air television, rising to 82% among Welsh speakers, while 62% of Welsh speakers have watched the National Eisteddfod that way. Ann Davies, Plaid Cymru MP for Caerfyrddin, said the numbers had to shape Westminster's thinking. 'While media consumption is changing in Wales and linear TV viewership is falling, 22% of Welsh households still rely on Digital Terrestrial Television to watch TV,' she said. Advertisement UK Government policy, she said, must avoid 'leaving people behind, particularly older people and those in rural areas' while protecting Wales's public service broadcasters. 'As broadcasting is reserved to Westminster, I will continue to speak up for my constituents and people across Wales.' Her party wants the decision pushed back a decade, she added, urging ministers to choose 'the later switch-off date of 2044 to ensure no one is left behind'. A cross-party letter and a 'concerned' Prime Minister Broadcast 2040+ launched in 2022, founded by Arqiva, the company that operates the UK's terrestrial transmitter network, alongside charities including Age UK and the Rural Services Network. It wants free-to-air broadcast TV and radio guaranteed into the 2040s. Advertisement A spokesperson for the campaign said: 'Free-to-air is how Wales watches the Eisteddfod, the Six Nations and its own national broadcaster, and in much of the country the broadband simply isn't there to replace it.' 'Ministers now have a choice,' they added. 'Guarantee free-to-air television to at least 2044, or explain to Welsh viewers why they are being switched off by a department that has never asked them.' The campaign says a cross-party group of MPs has written to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy condemning the plans, and that Prime Minister Andy Burnham told MPs on 1 September he was 'concerned' about them. No Welsh Government position on the consultation has been published, it adds. Advertisement The UK's last big switch-off offers a warning about what happens when the vulnerable are left behind: Ofcom fined Virgin Media £23.8m last December for leaving telecare users at risk during the move from analogue to digital landlines. The drift away from the aerial is real, though: Ofcom's own Welsh research has tracked younger viewers abandoning scheduled TV for streaming for years. Strand Partners surveyed 501 adults in Wales online on 3 and 4 September, with the data weighted to be representative.