Additionally, in the letter of the law,[3] the television or radio companies rather than the regulator became the broadcasters as had been the case with the IBA before 1964, when it had fewer regulatory powers than it would later assume.

[4] It reformed the system of awarding ITV franchises, which proved controversial when Thames Television was replaced by Carlton Television, for what some felt were political reasons (see Death on the Rock), and when TV-am, admired by Thatcher for its management's defiance of the trade unions, lost its franchise to GMTV (the now-former Prime Minister personally apologised to the senior TV-am executive Bruce Gyngell).

[5] It set out plans for many more local and regional commercial radio stations, generally using parts of the FM band not previously used for broadcasting, which have since come to fruition.

During Tony Blair's tenure as leader, the Labour Party's broadcasting policy generally shifted much more towards that expounded in the Act.

Supporters of the previous, more regulated system have strongly criticised the Act, and some have blamed it for what they see as a "dumbing down" of British television and radio.

One initially less-obvious effect of the Act was that technical standards ceased to be monitored and enforced by the regulatory body along with the programme content.