Media Act 2024: Tier 1 on-demand programme services (Communications Act 2003, Part 4A)

What it requires

Part 4A of the Communications Act 2003 regulates on-demand programme services: services whose principal purpose is providing programmes, accessed on demand, under a person's editorial responsibility and made available to the public (section 368A). Programmes are moving or still images or legible text, with or without sound (section 368ZA). Services with their head office and editorial decisions in the UK were already subject to Ofcom's rules; the Media Act 2024 created a category of non-UK on-demand programme services available to the UK public (section 368AA) and a Tier 1 regime, both inserted on 23 August 2024. The On-demand Programme Services (Tier 1 Services) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/235) make any such service with more than 500,000 average monthly UK users, measured over the preceding 12 months, a Tier 1 service; the BBC is excluded, and viewing through a user-to-user service does not count. Tier 1 providers must notify Ofcom (section 368HC) and observe a Tier 1 standards code whose objectives include protecting under-18s (sections 368HF and 368HJ). They must also comply with an accessibility code; the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has said the targets will require at least 80% of a catalogue to be subtitled, 10% audio-described and 5% signed, with four years to meet them. For non-UK Tier 1 services, the existing rules on harmful material, including keeping material that might impair the development of under-18s from them, and on advertising and sponsorship apply after a 12-month grace period (section 368HE). Penalties reach 5% of qualifying revenue, which includes charges for programmes, or £250,000, whichever is greater (section 368J).

Why it bears on this field

A vertical-drama app offers a catalogue of serialised episodes, selected and organised by its operator, that viewers choose and watch on demand. Those are the elements section 368A lists: programmes, on-demand access and general control over what is offered and how it is organised. If its head office or its editorial decisions are outside the UK, such an app falls in the non-UK category (section 368AA), which Ofcom regulates only once the service is Tier 1, so the 500,000 average monthly UK user threshold decides whether such an app falls under Ofcom's on-demand rules at all. Penalties are calculated on qualifying revenue, which counts amounts received in respect of charges made for the provision of programmes alongside advertising, product placement and sponsorship income (section 368J(4)). In preparing the standards code, Ofcom must have regard to the likely effect of payment being required to view programmes (section 368HH). Episodes viewed through a channel on a video-sharing platform do not count toward the threshold.

Open questions

• Does the operator of a vertical-drama app have editorial responsibility under section 368A(4) where its catalogue is ranked for each viewer by recommendation algorithms?
• Does any vertical-drama app exceed the 500,000 average monthly UK user threshold that brings a non-UK service under Ofcom's Tier 1 regime?
• How will the Tier 1 standards code's protections for under-18s apply to catalogues of very short serialised episodes released behind per-episode payment?

Timeline

• 2024-05-24The Media Act 2024 receives Royal Assent. Source (opens in a new tab)
• 2024-08-23The non-UK on-demand programme service category (section 368AA) and the Tier 1 chapter of Part 4A are inserted into the Communications Act 2003. Source (opens in a new tab)
• 2026-02-24The Department for Culture, Media and Sport publishes the description of services it proposes to designate: on-demand services with more than 500,000 average monthly UK users. Source (opens in a new tab)
• 2026-03-10The On-demand Programme Services (Tier 1 Services) Regulations 2026, made on 6 March, are laid before Parliament. Source (opens in a new tab)
• 2026-04-01The Tier 1 Services Regulations come into force. Source (opens in a new tab)