The BBC, Channel 4 and ITV are facing severe financial pressure as YouTube, Netflix, Disney and Amazon capture audiences and advertising revenue. Large-scale redundancies and possible ownership changes have raised concerns that Britain’s public service broadcasters may no longer be able to sustain their current role, range of programming or universal services.

Channel 4 plans to cut 28% of its workforce, while the BBC is considering up to 2,000 job losses and renegotiating its licence-fee funding model. ITV has abandoned plans to build a major streaming competitor and is backing a £1.6bn sale of its broadcasting arm to Sky. US technology and streaming companies are forecast to take almost $50bn of UK advertising revenue by 2028, while traditional television advertising is expected to fall sharply; meanwhile, BBC licence-fee income has declined by 38% in real terms since 2010, with 2.7 million fewer people paying the charge.