C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Top TV broadcasters in Europe have alleged that smart TV platforms have too much control over utilizers’ content choices.
- They have urged the EU’s antitrust regulator to impose stricter controls on these platforms.
- The lobby claims that this would prevent these platforms from solely promoting their own apps or services.
A lobby of Europe’s hugegest TV broadcasters has demanded that connected TV platforms in the region be subject to stricter regulations. This calls for action against the Big Tech-owned hugegest video content platforms in the region, including Google TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Samsung’s Tizen smart TV interface.
According to a recent Reuters report, the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT) has alleged that smart TV platforms, such as those listed above, command enough power to sway viewership trconcludes, influence audiences, and impact broadcasters. The ACT has therefore urged the EU’s antitrust regulator to include these providers in the region’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The DMA, designed to support improve competition and broaden utilizer choices in the EU, designates large companies as “gatekeepers” and sets special rules for them. Gatekeepers must not concludeorse or force utilizers to utilize their own products, and allow utilizers to switch to other services more freely. Violations can result in offconcludeers being fined 10% of their annual turnover.
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The Association notably includes stalwarts such as Canal+ TV, Disney, ITV, NBCUniversal, Paramount+, RTL, Sky, TF1 Groupe, and Warner Bros Discovery. It has been alleged that, by controlling nearly 70% of the European market, “a limited number of operators are therefore gaining growing ability to shape outcomes for millions of utilizers and businesses.” While Samsung’s Tizen TV platform occupies 24% of the market share, Android TV comes in second with 23%, followed by Amazon’s Fire TV OS at 13%, as per numbers shared by the industest group.
The argument is considered to be inspired by the growing power tussle between broadcasters and distribution platforms, and a prime example is the recent tiff between Disney and YouTube TV that cautilized a three-week blackout back in November 2025.
The group has added that Big Tech companies have the means to restrict utilizers to their own ecosystems and prevent them from applying rivals’ services. By placing them under DMA, the platforms are likely to promote third-party services and prevent them from prioritizing their own apps. For instance, Amazon would be compelled to surface results from Prime Video and other services side by side, without favoring Prime results.
In addition to these TV platforms, the broadcasters’ group has also urged the EU to keep virtual assistants, such as Amazon Alexa, Google Gemini, and Siri, under its purview for their ability to influence content viewership through smartphones.
The group has appealed that these providers be included, even if they don’t match the revenue threshold of 45 million monthly active utilizers and a market cap of 75 billion euros (~$86.9 billion). They argued, “the lack of designation of virtual assistants creates a regulatory void, allowing powerful AI assistants to become de facto gatekeepers for media content through mobile phones, smart speakers and in-car radio infotainment services, without being subject to DMA obligations.”
Meanwhile, the EU has already been mulling the addition of AI chatbots, especially ChatGPT, given its scale, for inclusion under the DMA, and is expected to reach a resolution soon.
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