The annual DTG Summit aimed to present the bigger picture for television. Much of the focus was on the smaller screen, micro dramas, vertical video, and YouTube. That left the future of television looking less certain than ever.

The opening keynote painted a pretty dismal picture from an investment perspective, showing little appreciation for the business of broadcasting or the power or purpose of the medium. The valuation ‘thesis’ seemed to be more about a misapprehension of library assets and how television catalogues are different to movies or music.

What was missing was any sense of a future roadmap for traditional television in the United Kingdom. The Rt Hon Ian Murray MP, the minister of state responsible for creative industries, media, and arts, appeared on video rather than in person, but had nothing to announce, on the eve of local and national elections.

Simon Michaelides, the director general of ISBA, representing advertisers, did a great job of saying what brands really want from broadcasters. That includes more transparent measurement across broadcast and online. The message was that, despite the importance of performance marketing, to which sales can be directly attributed, television remains powerful for brand building, and there is a need for both.

We heard from Andrea Donovan from YouTube about its growth from the first video, ‘A Day at the Zoo’. She situated YouTube as part pf popular culture and a complementary support for broadcasters. It was deftly done, so as not to represent YouTube as a threat to traditional media or its advertising model.

There was also a session on the creator economy, in which representatives of broadcasters including Channel 4 spoke of how they are working with these new platforms. What we did not get was any details about numbers.

Maria Rua Aguete gave a fact-packed presentation on Microdramas, like her own favourite ‘I’m the Lady Boss’, presenting a picture of how these short-form serial dramas are already big business, generating $11 billion in 2025, mostly in China, but expected to be worth $1.5 billion in the United States in 2026.

Vertical video is a thing, at least on mobile, and at least for short-form viewing. It seems its main purpose is to demonstrate that mobile video is somehow different from television.

Tony Pastor, who left ITV to cofound Goalhanger, gave a convincing account of how podcasting is attracting substantial audiences to serious subjects like politics and history, with long-form programmes that now include video. These convivial conversations involve the listener or viewer in an intimate way that television, which tends to talk at them, seems to have lost. It appears that talking in depth and at length about topics that some people actually care about could be the secret to success.

In a closing session on future innovation, Manon Dave, the head of future world design at the BBC, started out by consigning television to Room 101, apparently unaware of the premise for the BBC programme of that name that has been running for over thirty years, or indeed its Orwellian reference.

Delegates may have left with the impression that the innovation in television is not taking place on the television screen, but there is much that as a medium it might learn from that. The pace of change is accelerating, but traditional broadcasters do not seem to have a compelling plan to compete, other than some vague notion that they should follow their viewers online.

dtgsummit.com

Nearly 83% of premises in the United Kingdom are covered by fibre to the premises. Gigabit network coverage, including cable, is nearly 90%. Coverage is one thing, but being connected is another.

The numbers come from the latest research from PointTopic, which tracks the metrics as part of its mapping of broadband in the United Kingdom.

There are over 28 million premises in the United Kingdom covered by fibre to the premises availability. That is 82.9% of the total, compared to 80.5% at the end of 2025. That includes OpenReach, Virgin Media 02, KCOM, and alternative network providers.

So-called overbuilding has increased, where premises have access to more than one fibre provider. 13.4 million premises have access to two or more fibre networks, which is 39.5%. 7.3% have access to three or more.

Availability is uneven. In the Shetland Islands only a fifth of premises are passed by a fibre connection, which is perhaps understandable. Less excusable is that in the City of London, known as the Square Mile, that is the financial heart of the capital, fibre passes less than 40% of premises.

Openreach, the incumbent wholesale provider, added 1.3 million premises that could access fibre in the first quarter of 2026, compared to 1.1 million in the previous quarter. It is on track to reach its target of 25 million premises by the end of 2026.

Belfast in Northern Ireland is the top local authority by percentage of premises passed by Openreach fibre, at 96%. Wirral has the highest percentage in England, with 95%, while Flintshire in Wales has 93%.

Among alternative network providers, or altnets, CityFibre has 4.2 million premises ready for service with fibre. Netomnia, Nexfibre, and Community Fibre had the next largest footprints, with 3 million, 2.4 million, and 1.4 million premises respectively.

If the deal between Netomnia and Nexfibre goes ahead, currently under review by the Competition and Markets Authority, Nexfibre will more than double its footprint. That could reach 8 million premises by the end of 2027. Combined with the Virgin Media network, that could reach 20 million premises and create a serious challenger to Openreach.

The combination of Nexfibre, a joint venture between Liberty Global, Telefónica, and InfaVia, with Substantial Group, comprising Netomnia,YouFibre, and Brsk, could be assessed in terms of the national market. Or it could be considered at local levels, where in some cases Virgin Media and Netomnia are already in direct competition.

The assessment may not only determine the outcome and timetable for that proposed transaction, but also provide a precedent for how future consolidation of alternative network providers may be considered.

These numbers all relate to homes passed. Availability is one thing. Taking up a fibre connection is another.

There are still over 11 million premises in the country that are only covered by legacy networks, like ADSL or fibre to the cabinet. Openreach still covers over a million homes by ADSL, and over 9 million by fibre to the cabinet. Together that makes up over 30% of total premises.

www.point-topic.com

A collaboration between Ocean Blue Software and the Service List Registry will bring together client software and platform infrastructure to support the international deployment of the DVB-I service discovery standard at scale. OBS has developed a high-performance DVB-I client that can be compiled directly into the firmware of television and video devices and displays. Connected to the SLR Unified Service Platform, it offers an end-to-end solution for service discovery.

Founded in 2005 and based in Bristol, with an international team of expert engineers, Ocean Blue Software develops smart television software used by device manufacturers and platform operators to accelerate product development, together with validation services that ensure compatibility with industry standards.

OBS has developed a high-performance DVB-I Client for integration in smart televisions and operator platforms. The same software also supports its online DVB-I Inspector, an analysis, validation, and continuous monitoring tool that ensures service information used by devices conforms to industry specifications.

SLR provides a structured, standards-based directory of television and video services, enabling devices and applications to discover and access services across multiple sources, countries, regions, and delivery networks.

The SLR Unified Service Platform implements DVB-I, an open standard that specifies how services can be described and discovered. It enables interoperability across broadcast and broadband environments while enabling innovation in user experience.

Connecting with the SLR platform, the OBS software solution supports reliable service discovery for television operating systems, simplifies integration and deployment, and ensures interoperability across the DVB-I value chain, from media providers to devices and displays. Together they advance the international deployment of the DVB-I service discovery specification at scale through a robust and reliable ecosystem based on open standards.

“Ocean Blue Software has a long track record of delivering smart television software for manufacturers and operators worldwide. We have now developed an efficient DVB-I Client for integration into their products,” said Paul Martin, CEO of Ocean Blue Software. “Working closely with SLR, we can connect these devices with service discovery, so that DVB-I can be deployed effectively across them in multiple markets.”

The initial focus will be on aligning OBS client software with the SLR platform, supporting consistent service discovery for television manufacturers and operating system providers worldwide that are planning to incorporate DVB-I in their next-generation products.

oceanbluesoftware.co.uk
slrdb.org