A further aspect of this licence streamlining process is Ofcom’s proposal to automatically extend licences for the 34 hyper-local TV channels currently serving cities across the UK. At present these licences will expire in 2025. Ofcom recognises they may need more time to become commercially viable and so … guess what … is proposing a simplified renewal process, that gives them more time to succeed, with a new licence lasting until 2034.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/p...air-until-2034
*Not* because that’s when DTT is being shut; the government consultation outlined specific reasons for the process around giving channels time to improve their commercial viability, part of which is certainty that the platform will continue to exist. This is in line with the Broadcasting White Paper issued last year which proposed consolidating various broadcast licence renewals on 2034 because that is sufficiently far into the future to signal that investors can have long-term confidence in DTT, not because that’s when they plan to close it.
https://assets.publishing.service.go...ssible__1_.pdf
Especially page 38.