[LINK] App order on smart televisions

Stephen Loosley StephenLoosley at outlook.com
Tue Nov 7 21:44:17 AEDT 2023


Brawl erupts over which apps get shown first on your smart TV

By Calum Jaspan  November 6, 2023  https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/brawl-erupts-over-which-apps-get-shown-first-on-your-smart-tv-20231106-p5ehuz.html


Pay and free-to-air media companies are facing off in a battle over how their apps are displayed on smart televisions as the government prepares to launch legislation that will affect how Australians view content.

The legislation, which the government calls a “prominence framework”, is one of four items of media reform being considered in Canberra.

Free-to-air networks including Nine, Seven and Ten have argued via the Free TV Australia lobby that local and culturally significant content including news, sport and entertainment should be given preferential placement on newer television sets, so it can be easily found by users.

To help make their case, Free TV and Seven West Media have conducted research that found 84 per cent of Australians want to be shown a free option before a paid option on connected and smart TVs. Seventy-eight per cent of respondents said it was important free TV services were easy to find.

Audiences and advertising revenue for broadcast television are declining as newer TV sets and plug-in devices such as Google Chromecast provide a growing range of digital services, and as subscription applications such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Paramount+ compete with free-to-air aligned services 9Now, 10Play, SBS On Demand and 7Plus.

Adding to the heightened competition for attention, the majority of subscription services – barring Stan – now offer advertising-subsidised subscription tiers, competing against television networks for advertising revenue. Stan is owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead.

CEO of Free TV Bridget Fair argues viewers should be offered free Australian services first, saying the networks invested $1.5 billion annually on local content. She accused television manufacturers and streaming players of “almost hiding local television services” through global content deals.

“What we’ve got now is a bunch of multinational players essentially dictating to consumers their choice. That is not choice.”

The Consumer Electronics Suppliers Association (CESA), which represents Sony, Samsung and Panasonic, has previously said “it’s simply not true that our members charge for availability”.

Fair said the new research showed empirical evidence that Australians support Free TV’s view on the policy issue.

She said legislation was a key step towards securing a sustainable media sector, and giving Australians a fair choice in choosing content services.

Fighting against the policy, ASTRA, the lobbying body for subscription media providers in Australia, launched a national communications campaign on Monday, taking out a full-page advertisement in The Australian arguing against preferential placement for free-to-air services.

News Corp, publisher of The Australian, also owns a majority stake in pay TV company Foxtel, ASTRA’s key member. Foxtel operates local subscription video services Binge and Kayo, and will launch a new streaming aggregation service called “Hubbl” next year, displaying both free and subscription applications.

ASTRA commissioned its own research via YouGov, delivering vastly different results to Free TV’s findings. ASTRA’s research said that, given the choice, 94 per cent of Australians did not want the government controlling the order and layout of the apps on their TV.

“Millions of Australians rely on subscription TV services and we are very concerned that the Government could take control of what and how these Australians watch their TVs with new Prominence legislation,” an ASTRA spokesperson said.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has some tough decisions ahead.

The policy has not been made public, but Communications Minister Michelle Rowland told this masthead the government was committed to ensuring Australians could easily find local services following years of change in the media landscape.

“While offering significant benefits for Australian audiences, these changes are creating a more challenging environment for the delivery of local TV services to viewers,” she said.

“The government wants to ensure Australians can readily access the local TV services they rely on for Australian content, sporting events and news and emergency information.”

Proposed legislation is touted by several media executives as being “weeks away”. Meanwhile, Rowland is scheduled to speak at the National Press Club on November 22.

Other items on the reform agenda include curbs to gambling advertising, updates to anti-siphoning legislation, which regulates which sports should be made available free, and local content quotas for international streaming players.

Rowland’s office said her speech would address online safety, rather than media reform.

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