Skip to main content

14-15 May 2025
Olympia Grand Hall
London

MPTS
03 Dec 2020

Arqiva stands down as a shareholder in Digital UK

Jake Bickerton - Broadcast
It leaves the BBC, ITV and C4 as the remaining shareholders in the organisation responsible for developing and managing Freeview

Arqiva is standing down as a shareholder in Digital UK from March 2021. No reason was given for the company’s move.

Digital UK leads the strategy and development of Freeview as well as the management of the Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) platform. With Arqiva no longer a shareholder, its remaining shareholders are the BBC, ITV, C4.

Arqiva has been involved in the development of Freeview since its launch over 18 years ago and has been a shareholder in Digital UK since 2005.

The company will now withdraw from its board involvement in Digital UK, and withdraw as a shareholder in DTV Services Ltd., the marketing body for the Freeview platform.

Arqiva will, however, continue its role carrying around half of the channels on the Freeview platform and as the sole transmission provider for the Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) platform.

It will also continue to work closely with Digital UK on matters related to Freeview.

Jonathan Thompson, CEO of Digital UK said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Arqiva for all their support for Freeview over the years. They have been an important and valued partner to Digital UK, and without them Freeview would not have been the British success story it is today. We look forward to continuing to work closely together in the future to ensure the platform remains just as compelling for British viewers in the future.”

Shuja Khan, chief commercial officer of Arqiva, added: “Arqiva has been a member of Digital UK since it was founded in 2005 and we are proud of the role we have played in making Freeview such a successful platform, serving the needs of around 18m TV households on a daily basis. Freeview’s delivery of free-to-air, universal and high-quality content must continue, with the emphasis on universal. While we have stepped down as shareholder, we believe in the platform’s future and will continue to deliver and invest in the infrastructure and related services required to provide a wide and growing range of services to our media customers.”

View all Industry News
Loading

2025 Exhibitors:

 


 

Testimonials

Testimonials

  • It's not just a show; it's an ecosystem for innovation, collaboration and thinking more creatively."
    Adipat Virdi
    DTG
  • The atmosphere at MPTS has been amazing this year. MPTS is definitely one of the industry’s most diverse shows, if not the most diverse, both in terms of attendees and panelists. A huge amount of work goes into making sure that there is equal representation across an extensive conference programme.
    Donna Smith
    Rise
  • The quality of speakers and amount of sessions is just unparalleled.
    Julian Nelson
    Residence Pictures
  • It has been a wonderful two days at MPTS. It was well attended with technology everywhere. The show was full of people from the industry, new to the industry, collaborating, networking and generally having a good time.
    Kris Hill
    Theatrixx Technologies
  • I think this year 2024 is probably the most innovative, cutting-edge, head-of-the-curve MPTS that I’ve exhibited at so far. I think even compared to last year, attendees really know what they’re looking for when it comes to cloud, AI, virtual production, all of the buzz words, all of the emerging technologies, everyone’s really embraced it.
    Emily Fairclough
    SCAN Computers Ltd
  • It's just really nice to come into a big building where all your people are at and everyone is doing the same thing as you and sharing ideas, technologies and solutions. Here it feels like you're among your community.
    Dan Snow
    History Hit