The UK government announced new regulatory requirements that will bring major video-on-demand (VoD) platforms under tighter oversight by Ofcom, aligning them more closely with traditional television broadcasters.
The changes are part of implementing the Media Act 2024 and mark one of the most significant shifts in how online streaming services are governed in the UK.
Under plans laid out by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, VoD services with more than 500,000 average monthly UK users, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, ITVX and Channel 4’s on-demand service, will be designated as Tier 1 services and required to comply with a new VoD accessibility code.
The new accessibility code will introduce minimum standards around subtitles, audio description, and signing for content on these platforms. According to government guidance, services must ensure at least:
- 80 percent of their total catalogue is subtitled.
- 10 percent has audio description for viewers with sight loss.
- 5 percent includes sign language support.
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These thresholds mirror accessibility requirements that traditional UK broadcasters have long followed, helping ensure that visually impaired and deaf or hard-of-hearing audiences have better access to streamed content.
Platforms will have four years to meet the standards, with interim targets after two years.
Why this matters?
Streaming services have overtaken broadcast TV as the dominant way people consume video entertainment in the UK, with research showing that a large majority of households now subscribe to at least one major streaming platform.
Traditional broadcasters have long been subject to Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code, which includes accessibility and audience protection measures. The shift to extend similar rules to VoD services reflects how viewing habits have changed and aims to close a regulatory gap.
Until now, many of the biggest streaming platforms were either unregulated in the UK or faced only limited oversight.
The upcoming rules will also give Ofcom broader data-gathering powers and the responsibility to review audience protection tools, from age ratings to parental controls, used by these services.
The changes come as the broader regulatory framework for UK media is being updated. The Media Act 2024 amended parts of the Communications Act 2003 to allow the designation of Tier 1 VoD services and introduce codes that better reflect modern media consumption.
What comes next?
Ofcom will launch consultations on the new VoD standards, giving platforms, creators and audiences a chance to weigh in on the details before enforcement begins.
The government says the new rules are a step toward a more consistent media landscape in which streaming services are accountable for audience protection and accessibility just like traditional broadcasters.
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