Arqiva

Citizens Advice Cornwall is backing a campaign to protect TV and radio services in the area from the threat of closure.

Many people are not aware that, on current plans, TV received through an aerial (Freeview) and broadcast radio are not guaranteed long term.Citizens Advice Cornwall, has backed a campaign to protect these services which are currently delivered through Caradon Hill mast.

Broadcast 2040+ is a new campaign, which aims to protect vital TV and radio services for everyone – including the elderly and vulnerable people that rely on them the most – until 2040 and beyond.

Next year, an international conference will decide whether to safeguard the radiofrequency spectrum used to deliver these services. The campaign calls on the UK Government to ensure that the international decision does not negatively impact the services relied on by the people of Cornwall.

New polling, conducted on behalf of the campaign, shows 67% of people in one parliamentary constituency in region, North Cornwall, support the continued provision of free TV and radio services and want MPs like Scott Mann to back it too.

Freeview TV is especially important for older and vulnerable people, many of whom don’t understand or can’t afford services like Sky, Virgin or Netflix.

Broadcast 2040+ is a coalition of organisations across the UK, including Age UK, Silver Voices, the Rural Services Network and broadcast infrastructure company,

Gill Pipkin, CEO of Citizens Advice Cornwall, said: "As a rural, low income area with an ageing population, people in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly rely heavily on free broadcast media for companionship, entertainment and to keep informed. A number of people we see are cancelling their TV subscriptions because they can no longer afford them. We strongly back this campaign to keep free access to broadcasting."

Shuja Khan, CEO of Arqiva and member of the Broadcast 2040+ coalition, said:

“Broadcast TV and radio are part of the daily routine of tens of millions of people across the UK – nine out of ten adults listen to radio at least once a week and nearly half the households in the UK access television through an aerial.

“These services bind us together as a people, whether it is through national moments that matter like the Queen’s State Funeral and Jubilee or celebrating national success like the Women’s Euro Final.

“Now is a critical moment to guarantee them for the long-term. The Government is only committed to these services until the early 2030s. On questions of critical national infrastructure, that is closer than it seems.”

Other backers of the campaign nationally include Children’s Media Foundation, British Broadcasting Challenge and Voice of the Listener and Viewer.

Polling by Strand Partners and broadcast infrastructure company Arqiva, of more than 400 people, found that:

67% support the continued provision of free TV and radio services

86% listen to radio through a radio set every month and 66% consider its continued provision essential or important

78% watch TV via Freeview every month, and 52% consider its continued provision essential or important.

ENDS

Notes to Editors