{"id":814607,"date":"2026-10-26T17:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T17:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/814607\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T17:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T17:20:12","slug":"ofcom-geoblocking-report-suggests-uk-and-irish-governments-look-again-at-digital-tv-pact-to-allow-northern-viewers-to-see-rte-and-tg4-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/814607\/","title":{"rendered":"Ofcom \u2018Geoblocking\u2019 report suggests UK and Irish governments look again at digital TV pact to allow northern viewers to see RT\u00c9 and TG4 content"},"content":{"rendered":"

Broadcast watchdog Ofcom<\/a> says the British and Irish governments should revisit a digital TV broadcasting pact as a way of tackling RT\u00c9<\/a> content being \u2018geoblocked\u2019 in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

The UK regulator has acknowledged in a new report that broadcasts from both RT\u00c9 and TG4 \u201chave an established place in the media landscape of Northern Ireland, and the cross-border availability of services supports cultural, linguistic and public service objectives\u201d. <\/p>\n

The report was commissioned following a recent meeting between the regulator and Stormont\u2019s economy minister Caoimhe Archibald<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Geoblocking mainly concerns sport, with digital viewers in the north barred from accessing the live broadcasts of certain events including Ireland\u2019s Rugby Six Nations matches, and the historic final fight of boxer Katie Taylor\u2019s career<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n

\"Mo<\/a>\"SAS<\/a><\/p>\n

UK IP addresses are often blocked for some broadcasts due to rights issues, meaning they can only be screened in the Republic.<\/p>\n

Northern viewers have also been unable to watch RT\u00c9\u2019s The Traitors via catch-up. <\/p>\n

Ofcom has said both RT\u00c9 and TG4 attempt to seek all-island broadcast rights \u201cwhenever these are available\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, sporting organisations often sell separate rights packages for the UK and the Republic.<\/p>\n

Suggestions for solving the problem have included the creation of unique IP addresses identifying viewers in Northern Ireland, and not the rest of the UK, which was proposed by Irish News sports journalist Cahair O\u2019Kane<\/a>, and discussed at Westminster in 2024 by SDLP leader Claire Hannah.<\/p>\n

Geoblocking of RT\u00c9 content in the north has been slammed as \u201ccompletely unacceptable\u201d by Ms Archibald, while her party colleague, Fermanagh and South Tyrone Sinn F\u00e9in MLA \u00c1ine Murphy, said NI viewers were being treated with \u201ccontempt\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the new Ofcom report, the regulator recommends \u201ccontinued dialogue between the UK and Irish Governments, broadcasters, relevant sporting organisations, ISPs (internet service providers) and technical providers\u201d. <\/p>\n

It suggests there may be scope for broadcasters, sports bodies and rights holders to \u201cdevelop event-specific workarounds\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ofcom say potential measures to \u201cmitigate\u201d geoblocking include a verified account scheme or dedicated set-top boxes for NI viewers with access key codes.<\/p>\n

It adds: \u201cMost importantly, Ofcom considers that there may be merit in the UK and Irish Governments considering whether the objectives of their 2010 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on digital television services remains fit for a media environment increasingly characterised by IP-delivered services.\u201d<\/p>\n

That agreement, signed by British and Irish ministers, committed both governments to ensuring RT\u00c9 and TG4 services would remain widely available in Northern Ireland after the switching off of analogue broadcasts in 2012.<\/p>\n

Ofcom has warned the pact does not reflect how many viewers now access TV through streaming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MoU helped enable the wider availability of RT\u00c9 and TG4 through digital terrestrial television in Northern Ireland, but it predates the present scale of IP viewing and is focused only on traditional terrestrial distribution,\u201d the Ofcom report states.<\/p>\n

\u201cA refreshed MoU could set a high-level shared objective of sustaining widespread access to Republic of Ireland public service content in Northern Ireland across IP-delivered platforms, subject to rights and legal constraints. <\/p>\n

\u201cSuch a commitment would not in itself change broadcasting rights contracts or the workings of ISP networks. It could, however, provide a clearer policy framework for cooperation, strengthen the position of broadcasters when engaging with rights holders and technical partners, and ensure that the original all-island public service objective is not eroded as content delivery becomes increasingly internet-based.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OfcomOfcom has prepared a report on Geoblocking, in which it acknowledges the issue ‘remains important to local audiences’ (Yui Mok\/PA) <\/p>\n

The report also suggests that unique Northern Ireland IP addresses \u201cmay be technically feasible for some providers, but addresses are scarce and expensive, implementation could be disproportionate (and) we would not expect providers to adopt it voluntarily absent a strong incentive\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ms Archibald said she has again written to governments in London and Dublin \u201cto seek their engagement and cooperation on resolving this issue once and for all\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a first step, I have asked the governments to review the objectives of the 2010 Memorandum of Understanding on digital television services and for their further engagement on the issue,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unacceptable that there is a risk of increased geo-blocking for the north as viewing habits evolve. This is a deeply unfair practice that detrimentally impacts audiences here. It is time to end geo-blocking for residents in the north.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Republic\u2019s Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, told the Irish News: \u201cThe Department is aware of the OfCom report. There is ongoing engagement between the Department and their UK counterparts on such matters of common interest. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department understands that broadcasters and regulators in both jurisdictions are also engaging on this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport and RT\u00c9 was approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Broadcast watchdog Ofcom says the British and Irish governments should revisit a digital TV broadcasting pact as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,3373,15590,38057,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-814607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-republic-of-ireland","tag-rte","tag-sinn-fein","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}