Three quarters of Welsh adults say the Welsh Government should formally oppose the 2034 switch-off of terrestrial television masts.

Three quarters of Welsh adults (76%) say the Welsh Government and Senedd should formally oppose the 2034 switch-off, rising to 86% among Welsh speakers.

Just 13% say they should not.

Nine in ten Welsh speakers (90%) say it is important that S4C stays free to watch through an aerial; two thirds (67%) say it is very important. Across Wales, 66% agree.

Over half of Welsh adults (55%) are not confident the internet where they live could cope if everyone had to replace Freeview with streaming, rising to 63% among Welsh speakers.

The UK Government is deciding whether to switch off terrestrial television, which reaches 98.5% of households, as early as 2034.

New polling for the Broadcast 2040+ campaign shows Wales does not believe the broadband exists to replace it and does not expect the decision to be taken with Wales in mind: two thirds (66%) think it would be made by people in London who don't understand Wales, against just 13% who think it would reflect people in Wales.

The stakes are cultural as well as practical. 68% of Welsh adults have watched Wales in the Six Nations live on free-to-air television, rising to 82% among Welsh speakers. 27% have watched the National Eisteddfod free-to-air; among Welsh speakers it is 62%.

Ann Davies, Plaid Cymru MP for Caerfyrddin said: “While media consumption is changing in Wales and linear TV viewership is falling, 22% of Welsh households still rely on Digital Terrestrial Television to watch TV.

“This must be reflected in UK Government policy to avoid leaving people behind, particularly older people and those in rural areas, while protecting Wales’s public service broadcasters. Keeping S4C free to watch through an aerial is especially important, with 66% of Welsh adults and 90% of Welsh speakers supporting this according to this polling. As broadcasting is reserved to Westminster, I will continue to speak up for my constituents and people across Wales.

“Plaid Cymru believes that the timeline for switch-off should be context-led and based on a workable plan, but we urge the UK Government to decide on the later switch-off date of 2044 to ensure no one is left behind.”

The switch-off is one of the options in DCMS's Media Green Paper, Watch this Space, whose consultation closed on 31 August. A cross-party group of MPs have written to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy condemning the plans, and on 1st September Prime Minister Andy Burnham told MPs he was "concerned" about them.

A Broadcast 2040+ spokesman said: "Free-to-air is how Wales watches the Eisteddfod, the Six Nations and its own national broadcaster, and in much of the country the broadband simply isn't there to replace it.

"Ministers now have a choice. Guarantee free-to-air television to at least 2044, or explain to Welsh viewers why they are being switched off by a department that has never asked them."