How to Notify

Guidance notes on how to notify an On Demand Programme

Service to Ofcom

Published: 18 December 2015

Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................... 3
General disclaimer .................................................................................................... 3
Before a notification is made ..................................................................................... 5
Making a notification.................................................................................................. 5
Additional notifications in relation to significant changes ........................................... 5
Completing your Notification form.............................................................................. 7
Service provider’s contact details .............................................................................. 7
Jurisdiction of the service provider ............................................................................ 7
The proposed service ................................................................................................ 8
Name of the service ....................................................................................... 8
Nature of service............................................................................................ 8
Own retail outlets or platforms ....................................................................... 8
Third Party retail outlets or platforms ............................................................. 8
Confidentiality requests ............................................................................................. 8
Publication of information about notifications of on demand programme
services ......................................................................................................... 8

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Introduction
General disclaimer
1. These notes are intended to help on-demand programme service (“ODPS”)
providers understand the notification process. The guidance notes should not be
relied upon as legal advice, or be understood as modifying the effect of the
statutory requirements for notification of a service.
2. Service providers should seek their own legal advice on the notification process
and requirements.
3. In providing the information in these guidance notes, Ofcom is not making, nor
implying any judgements on the commercial prospects (or otherwise) of notified
services, or that they will be profitable.
4. It is the responsibility of the service provider to consider, having taken its own
legal advice, if appropriate, whether the service it intends to provide is an ODPS.
The statutory definition is set out in section 368A of the Communications Act
2003, and Ofcom has published Guidance on who needs to notify to provide
further assistance1. In summary, however, a service is an ODPS if (i) its principal
purpose is the provision of programmes whose form and content is comparable
to those normally included on television (i.e. “TV-like” material); (ii) access to it is
on-demand (in the sense of being viewed at a time of the user’s choosing as
opposed to a linear schedule); (iii) there is a person with editorial responsibility
for it; (iv) it is made available by that person to members of the public; and (v)
that person is under the UK jurisdiction for the purposes of the Audiovisual
Media Services Directive.

5. Any ODPS provider is subject to various legal obligations. A summary of these

obligations is available on the Ofcom website in Ofcom’s Rules and Guidance for
on-demand service providers2. They include the obligation to notify the service in
advance to Ofcom (see paragraph 11 below). Statutory sanctions, including the
imposition of a financial penalty, may be imposed if a provider fails to notify an
intended service prior to its commencement

6. Ofcom makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, about the

information contained in these guidance notes or with respect to any written or
oral information made available to any potential service provider or its
professional advisers. Any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.
7. These guidance notes may be updated from time to time. ODPS providers
should check Ofcom’s website to make sure they are using the most recent
version. ODPS providers should also be aware that certain key features may
change in the future.
8. Notification forms must be signed by the duly authorised individual on behalf of
the service provider3, scanned and submitted by email to

1Available at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/on-demand/rules-

guidance/Guidance_on_who_needs_to_notify.pdf

2Available at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/on-demand/rules-

guidance/Rules_and_Guidance.pdf

3 In the case of: a) a company, this will be the company secretary or clerk; b) a partnership,
this will be a partner or another person who is in control of the business; and c) an

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 ODPSnotifications@ofcom.org.uk. Alternatively you can post your notification
form to the following address:
Ofcom
ODPS Notifications
5th Floor
Riverside House
Southwark Bridge Road
London
SE1 9HA
9. If you have any queries you can contact the ODPS team by email at:
ODPSnotifications@ofcom.org.uk.

unincorporated body or association, this will be a member of the organisation’s governing

body.

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Before a notification is made
10. As noted above, the provider of the service (i.e. the person with editorial
responsibility) will need to consider whether the service is an ODPS, as defined
in section 368A of the Act, and Ofcom has published guidelines to assist
providers in this assessment.
11. Notifications of ODPS should be made to Ofcom at least 10 working days before
the launch of the ODPS.
12. Before reaching a decision on whether or not a service will be within scope as an
ODPS, those intending to provide services may be able to informally discuss the
position with Ofcom by contacting ODPSnotifications@ofcom.org.uk. However,
the responsibility to satisfy the relevant legal obligations remains at all times with
the provider. You may wish to take your own professional advice in order to
ensure that you comply with the obligations.
13. You must fill in all sections of the notification form. If a section is not applicable,
you should indicate this by writing “N/A”. The declaration and the end of the
notification form must be signed and dated.
Making a notification
14. In order to satisfy the obligation to notify, an ODPS provider must complete a
notification form. We require that you do this using the notification form available
on the Ofcom website.4
Failure to notify an ODPS
15. If any person appears to Ofcom to be providing an ODPS which has not been
notified, Ofcom has the power under the Act to request any information that
would allow it to establish whether or not this is the case. On receipt of this
information, Ofcom will reach a decision on whether the service does in fact fall
under the Regulations. If it does, the ODPS provider may be found in breach of
the obligation to notify an ODPS and will be required to complete the notification
process. Ofcom considers that notification is a very important part of the rules
applying to ODPS; it is a clear statutory requirement and allows consumers to
know what to expect in terms of minimum standards in relation to content. In
some cases the matter may be referred for consideration of the imposition of a
statutory sanction.
Additional notifications in relation to significant changes

16. Service providers are also required to make additional notifications to Ofcom
where, having already notified a particular service, they intend to:
• make changes that would result in the ODPS being significantly different;
or
• cease the provision of the ODPS.
17. In such circumstances, the notification must clearly identify the service in
question and explain how the ODPS will be significantly different or state the
ODPS provider's intention to cease to provide the ODPS (as the case may be).
“Ceasing” encompasses ceasing provision of a service altogether or ceasing in
the sense that the definition of ODPS no longer applies as a result of relevant

4 Available at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/on-demand/notification.rtf

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changes. Ofcom recommends that such notifications are made by email to
ODPSnotifications@ofcom.org.uk.

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Completing your Notification form
This section of the guidance notes provides information on the corresponding
sections of the ODPS notification form, to help you fill in your notification form
correctly.

Service provider’s contact details

21. In this section, you must insert the contact details of the ODPS provider's company
along with the company number, where applicable. In most cases this will be a
limited company, although it could be another type of organisation, or an individual.

22. Providing correct contact information is important as Ofcom needs to know

precisely who to contact at the ODPS provider's company for various matters.
23. The service provider must provide contact details for the following contacts5:
• Primary Contact: the person to whom Ofcom should address inquiries about
the notification, and the day-to-day contact for Ofcom on regulatory matters.
• Compliance Contact: the person to whom Ofcom should contact regarding
any compliance issues. This may be the same as one of the other contacts if
appropriate.
• Public Contact: the person whose details will be published on the Ofcom
website. When a service is notified, this contact, along with the name of the
service, contact details for the ODPS provider are published on the Ofcom
website. Ofcom may also publish a brief description of the service.
Jurisdiction of the service provider
24. The Audiovisual Media Services Directive6 provides for freedom of
retransmission and reception for television services within the European
Economic Area. A service which is appropriately authorised in one Member
State does not need separate authorisation in any other Member State. Dual
authorisation is not permitted.
25. Part of the definition of an ODPS under section 368A of the Act is that the
provider is under UK jurisdiction for the purposes of the Audiovisual Media
Services Directive, so a service need only be notified to Ofcom if the provider of
that service falls into the UK’s jurisdiction as determined by the criteria set out in
Article 2 of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. Applicants should also
have regard to the European Convention on Transfrontier Broadcasting and its
amending Protocol (ETS132 and ETS171).
26. Ofcom would expect, in circumstances where the provider of a service would
otherwise be an ODPS but for claiming to be outside UK jurisdiction, that the
provider would be in a position to answer the question of whose jusrisdiction they
are under, and demonstrate that they have complied with the rules of that
country (including notification where this is required by national law).

5 Please see Ofcom’s General Privacy Statement (available on our website at:
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/foi-dp/general-privacy-statement) for information about
how Ofcom handles your personal information and your corresponding rights.
6 The Audiovisual Media Services Directive (Directive 2010/13/EU) is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/avpolicy//reg/avms/index_en.htm

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27. For more information on jurisdiction of the service provider, please see our
Guidance on who needs to notify.7
The proposed service
Name of the service
28. The ODPS provider chooses the name for their proposed service. It is the
responsibility of the provider to ensure the name can be used8.
29. It is the responsibility of the ODPS provider to enter into agreements with the
appropriate copyright licensing bodies before commencing the service. The
notification does not constitute a right to use a particular name.
Nature of service
30. This should be a brief description of the service, which will be entered into our
database as a record of the service. This section asks for information on whether
the service is catch-up, archive, original content shown on the service for the first
time or a mix of some or all of those. In addition we ask for information on
whether the service will be free-to-view, conditional on user payment (either by
pay per view or ongoing subscription) or a combination.
31. A free-to-view service means that a viewer would be able to receive this (with the
correct equipment) without any further subscription or payment. Free-to-view
also refers to service providers providing content for which no payment is
expected, even though they may be delivered to the viewer by another carrier for
which a payment is required.
32. A subscription-based service has technology in place to prevent a user from
receiving the service unless the user has paid for a regular subscription to
receive the service.

Own retail outlets or platforms

33. This should be a list of all websites, apps, portals, Smart TVs or set top box
platforms which are under the direct control of the ODPS provider.

Third Party retail outlets or platforms

34. This should be a list of all websites, apps, portals; Smart TV’s or set top box
platforms which are under the direct control of the ODPS provider.
Confidentiality requests

Publication of information about notifications of on demand programme

services

35. Please complete the question at the end of the notification form telling us if you
consider any of the information you have provided is confidential. If an ODPS
provider asks us to keep part or all of a notification form confidential, we will treat
this request seriously and will try to respect this. However, sometimes we will
need to publish such notifications, including those that are marked as

7
Available at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/on-demand/rules-
guidance/Guidance_on_who_needs_to_notify.pdf
8 Ofcom’s statutory remit does not extend to intellectual property matters, and it is for you to

satisfy yourself that the proposed name of the service will not cause problems, from your own
point of view, with (for example) a similar name for an existing service.

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 confidential, in order to meet legal obligations, for example under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
36. Ofcom is a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 1998 and is committed
to protecting and processing any personal information shared with us in a
manner which meets the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 as
outlined in the statement on our website at:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/cad/dps/dps/.
37. When a service has been notified, the name of the service, contact details for the
ODPS provider and a brief description of the service are published on the Ofcom
website. These are the details supplied in the notification form. If you have any
questions about the information that we publish, or there are any changes to this
information, you should contact the ODPS team by email
ODPSnotifications@ofcom.org.uk.