The Race Against Time to Stay Relevant: Broadcasting in Northern Ireland – Navigating the Next Decade
As global platforms reshape the way audiences consume content, the future of Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) in Northern Ireland and the UK’s devolved nations is entering a critical decade. While the digital transformation of media is not new, its accelerating pace, driven by changing viewing habits, algorithmic curation, and financial disruption, has brought PSB to an inflection point.
This was the backdrop for a recent high-level event at the Ulster University in Belfast, where regulators, broadcasters, politicians, and academics gathered to assess how PSB must evolve if it is to remain relevant, trusted, and truly public.
More than one speaker made it clear there could be only 10 years to fix this issue – and that’s about the time of one or two legislative cycles – so time is tight. Maybe the BBC Royal Charter renewal in 2027 will put some focus on the issue – but only a very confident personal would view a workable solution being delivered on that timeframe.
The Evolving Role of PSB
At its core, PSB is meant to serve all audiences to inform, educate, and entertain with integrity and accessibility. Recently Public Service Media has replaced PSB as the phrase as it’s meant now to cover all platforms of distribution – online as well as broadcasting.
Yet in a world of personalised media feeds and streaming services, the idea of universality is under pressure. Traditional linear broadcasting is giving way to on-demand viewing, and with that comes a shift in how content is funded, prioritised, and accessed.
For PSBs, this evolution brings a new challenge: how to maintain their public service remit when competing in a market that values volume, scale, and short-term engagement.
Entertainment formats tend to dominate VOD strategies, leaving genres like investigative journalism, arts, and regional storytelling vulnerable. In Northern Ireland, where identity, representation and inclusion carry heightened importance, this erosion could have serious consequences for civic trust and democratic engagement.
In NI the local newspapers – especially the Irish News – top the league tables for circulation figures (although all are on a downward slope). Local TV news programmes on both the BBC and commercial UTV are some of the highest ratings in the UK. (For full transparency I was the Managing Director of UTV for more than a decade.) Plus, local radio is still very strong, still local, and has well respected newsrooms.
So Northern Ireland is in a good shape compared to much of the UK. However, in a totally digital world, where linear TV is switched off, regional material comes much harder to find in an IP delivered world, and I fear the cliff edge is close, and the fall much steeper than for many other parts of the UK, who have already started the drop!
With fantastically high broadband speeds coving a significant proportion of the population Northern Ireland could easily be chosen as a test area for IP only broadcast delivery. It was the last region of the UK to have analogue tv transmitters turned off, but it could be the first to have ALL TV transmissions go dark.
The threats are serious, growing and unlike broadcasting regulation/legislation in the past which has focused on domestic issues, these issues are global in scale and therefore far more difficult to address.
Three Strategic Threats to PSB
- Economic Fragility and Funding Models
The financial foundation of PSB is weakening. Declining licence fee revenue coupled with increased reluctance to pay and strong feeling the licence fee is regressive taxation, fragmented advertising markets, and political resistance to new funding mechanisms are making it harder for PSBs to deliver at scale.
In smaller nations and regions like Northern Ireland, this is felt acutely. Without ring-fenced investment or diversified revenue, there is a risk of ‘postcode PSB’ with meaningful provision available only in large population centres. “News deserts” as they are already called in the US.
- Platform Dominance and Discoverability
Even the best PSB content struggles to compete with the global reach and algorithmic grip of platforms like Netflix, TikTok, and YouTube. Audiences increasingly encounter public service content not on native apps or TV schedules, but through third-party aggregators, if at all. For PSB to remain relevant, discoverability must be prioritised through smarter digital strategies, cross-platform partnerships, and even regulatory mandates ensuring fair visibility. Through the new UK Media Bill, Ofcom is doing some of this work right now (again for full disclosure I sit on Ofcom’s Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland: this is written in a personal capacity), but how the platforms react is yet to be seen.
- Trust, Accountability and AI
In an era of misinformation and AI-generated content, the role of PSB as a trusted source of accurate, verified information has never been more vital. But trust must be earned continually, through editorial independence, transparent governance, and a demonstrable commitment to serving diverse communities.
The next decade will also test how PSBs use AI ethically, balancing innovation with accountability.
A Distinctive Northern Ireland Context
The challenges of PSB are amplified in Northern Ireland by its political sensitivities, unique media consumption habits, and the need for programming that reflects life of distinct communities.
Audience expectations are high, because for so long there has been overdeliver and very strong plural media.
The future of PSB here will depend on strengthening regional commissioning, investing in local talent pipelines, and ensuring that institutions like the BBC, UTV/ITV and Channel 4 are held accountable for delivering authentic, inclusive stories.
Moreover, cross-border media access particularly remains inconsistent. Improving this could enhance cultural exchange, reduce duplication, and better reflect the island’s complex identity.
Also, the market needs to remain open to new entrants with new models that focus on public service content for a digital age. No one should argue that the legacy broadcasters should be the gatekeepers to the new world, any more than the American tech companies which now hold the balance of distribution and consumption power on most devices should be.
Beyond Broadcasting: A Civic Infrastructure
What emerged clearly from the Belfast event is that PSB should no longer be viewed simply as a broadcast service it is part of the wider civic infrastructure. Like healthcare or education, it supports public trust, community cohesion, and informed citizenship. Its decline would not just reduce the range of available content; it would damage the social fabric was a view many held.
The next ten years will require bold decisions: regulatory reform, public engagement, smarter funding models, and a renewed commitment to public value. Devolved governments, civil society, and the broadcasters themselves must all play a role.
This was a superb starting point for engagement and discussion: the team at Ulster University understand the issues. Dr Phil Ramsey who organised the event has written a number of PSB tracker studies and understand the landscape as well as anyone.
For Beech Hill Consultancy, its important the future of PSB/PSM is decided in the nations where it matters most. Not around boardroom tables of London based corporates and that politicians continue to see the values of plural news sources, portrayal and representation on screen (whatever size that screen happens to be and wherever its viewed) when policy and legislation is devised.
We’d be keen for Phil and Ulster University to build an even stronger position in thought leadership and research in this space: looking at the audience, the global challenges and how others are addressing them and seeing where future business models can take us as an informed society. First stop another conference or workshop later in the year looking at possible solutions not the well-rehearsed challenges: maybe?
For Northern Ireland with its history, diversity, and complex future the stakes could not be higher.