Manufacturers of new smart TVs will have to prominently display Australian TV channels to ensure local networks are not crowded out by streamers, under draft legislation released by the Labor government.
The so-called prominence legislation has been designed to guarantee local, free-to-air TV services Seven, Nine, Ten, SBS and the ABC are easy for Australian audiences to find on smart TVs.
This will ensure the dissemination of local news and emergency information as well as supporting the local creative and communications industries.
If passed, the law would oblige device manufacturers to include a number of features to reduce the risk of free-to-air broadcasting services being crowded out by the likes of Netflix and Disney+.
The minister for communications, Michelle Rowland, revealed the regulations would mean new devices would need to provide access to free-to-air networks, pre-install their video-on-demand apps – such as iview and 10Play – and present separate tiles, tabs or links to provide easy access to each service.
However, the requirements will not apply retrospectively to existing television sets, and the legislation does not include features sought by the free-to-air industry such as search functions that prioritise free-to-air networks over the streamers.
Rowland said the reforms would help ensure free local services remain easily accessible to Australian audiences on their connected television devices, even as technology changes.
“Local, free-to-air television informs and entertains all Australians, contributing to our shared sense of identity and cultural life,” Rowland said.
“The Albanese government’s new prominence framework delivers on our election commitment to modernise media laws and level the playing field, recognising the important role that free-to-air broadcasters continue to play for Australians – no matter where they live or what they earn.”
Last year Astra, the subscription media industry’s lobby group, campaigned against the changes, including through a series of full-page newspaper advertisements that declared: “Now the government wants to control your TV.”
Bridget Fair, the chief executive officer of Free TV Australia, said Astra’s campaign was “highly misleading”.
Astra advocates on behalf of the likes of Foxtel, Binge, Disney+ and the Australian Christian Channel.
Ramon Lobato, an associate professor from RMIT’s school of media and communication, told the Guardian last year that prominence is an existential challenge for Australian public service broadcasters, which do not have the resources to pay market rates for visibility in smart TV interfaces.
“The smart TV testing we’ve done at RMIT suggests that local broadcaster apps are substantially less visible, less frequently preinstalled, and less discoverable through search and recommendations than the major US services – Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video and Disney+,” he said.
Australia is one of several countries going down this legislative pathway. In the UK the bill ensures BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 and My5 are easy to find on smart TVs.
Foxtel, which is 65% owned by News Corp, is opposed to the legislation, arguing it restricts consumer choice and could distort the market in favour of broadcasters.
On 21 February Foxtel will launch its own smart TV technology called Hubbl – pitched as the “world’s best user interface” – which will integrate paid and free TV services in one device.
The bill has been referred to a Senate committee for inquiry and report by 26 March 2024.
