United Kingdom: Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced drafting of On-demand Programme Services (Tier 1 Services) Regulations 2026

On 24 February 2026, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced that will lay before Parliament the On-demand Programme Services (Tier 1 Services) Regulations 2026, implementing the Media Act 2024. The Regulations will designate video-on-demand (VoD) services with more than 500'000 UK users as “Tier 1” services. This will bring an estimated 20 VoD services within the scope of the Office of Communication’s (Ofcom) regulatory oversight. Tier 1 services will be required to comply with a new VoD standards code and a new VoD accessibility code. Following the designation, Ofcom will consult on the new codes, which will establish rules regarding protection from harmful and offensive content, privacy, fairness, and due impartiality and accuracy in news.