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Elephant Audio
Audio production · Sound design · Music production
LahorePKEngineering sound since 2018
More delivery specifications
Territory reference
UK DPP — Programme Delivery (AS-11)
What does UK broadcast programme delivery require?
UK DPP requires non-live programmes at −23.0 LUFS ±0.5 LU and live at ±1.0 LU. True peak is recommended below −3 dBTP, and content fails if it exceeds −1 dBTP. Loudness Range should not exceed 18 LU, factual speech 6 LU, with a minimum 4 LU separation between dialogue and background.
Source
Transcribed from the published standard, read 2026-09-19. Check it yourself
−23.0 LUFS
non-live
±0.5 LU — half of EBU's tolerance
±1.0 LU
live and as-live
the wider allowance
−1 dBTP
true-peak FAIL
−3 dBTP is only the recommendation
4 LU
dialogue separation
minimum, dialogue above background
The tolerance is the thing to notice
The target is −23.0 LUFS, the same figure as EBU R 128, which invites the assumption that a file passing one passes the other. It does not follow. UK DPP allows ±0.5 LU on non-live programmes — half of R 128's ±1.0 LU — and reserves the wider ±1.0 LU for live and as-live.
⚠️ So a programme sitting 0.8 LU from target is inside the European recommendation and outside the UK delivery requirement. This is the most common way a file that “meets R 128” comes back from a UK broadcaster.
The requirements, as written
From the DPP delivery requirements table:
- Programme Loudness, non-live: −23.0 LUFS ±0.5 LU.
- Programme Loudness, live including as-live: −23.0 LUFS ±1.0 LU.
- Maximum True Peak: recommended not to exceed −3 dBTP. Content will fail if the maximum true peak exceeds −1 dBTP.
- Loudness Range: programmes should aim for an LRA of no more than 18 LU.
- Dialogue: speech content in factual programmes should aim for an LRA of no more than 6 LU.
- A minimum separation of 4 LU between dialogue and background is recommended.
⚠️ True peak is two numbers, and only one of them rejects a file
The specification recommends staying below −3 dBTP and fails content above −1 dBTP. Those are different thresholds doing different jobs, and summaries that quote a single figure lose the distinction that actually decides whether a delivery is accepted.
The practical reading: −1 dBTP is the wall. −3 dBTP is the margin that keeps a file off it after transcoding, which is why it is recommended rather than required.
The dialogue rule, which is unusual and useful
Most delivery specifications say nothing about the relationship between dialogue and everything underneath it. This one does: a minimum separation of 4 LU between dialogue and background is recommended, and factual speech should hold a Loudness Range of no more than 6 LU.
That is a mix instruction rather than a measurement threshold, and it is the closest thing in any specification examined here to a written rule about intelligibility. It also means a mix can satisfy every loudness number and still be marked down on delivery for burying its dialogue.
Sources
- Channel 4 — Programme Delivery Specification, DPP AS-11 files (PDF)— UK DPP File v5.0 – 2017, Channel 4 File v5.2 – 2022. Every figure here. Read 2026-09-19.
- AMWA AS-11 UK DPP HD — the file format specification— The shim specification the delivery requirements sit on top of.
Common questions
If a file meets EBU R 128, does it meet UK DPP?
Not necessarily. Both target −23.0 LUFS, but UK DPP allows only ±0.5 LU on non-live programmes against R 128's ±1.0 LU. A file 0.8 LU from target satisfies the European recommendation and fails the UK requirement.
What true-peak level actually fails a UK delivery?
Above −1 dBTP. The −3 dBTP figure commonly quoted is the recommendation, not the fail threshold — it exists to leave margin so a file does not end up on the wall after transcoding.
Is the 4 LU dialogue separation a hard requirement?
It is written as a recommendation rather than a pass or fail number, alongside a target Loudness Range of no more than 6 LU for factual speech. It is nonetheless the clearest written rule about dialogue intelligibility in any spec covered here, and worth mixing to.
Next
- Check a programme against the DPP spec
- The European recommendation, with the wider tolerance
- The short-form supplement for adverts and promos
- What to ask for from an audio post house
- Mixing and mastering to a delivery target
This page is the lookup. Broadcast and Streaming Loudness Specs for Commercials is the explanation behind it.
Delivering a programme to a UK broadcaster?
The tolerance is half what most references quote, and the true-peak rule has two numbers. Both are worth agreeing before the mix rather than after the QC report.
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