Free TV is a body representing commercial television broadcasters such as Seven, Nine and Ten. Photo: Free TV.
The peak body for free TV broadcasters has called on the Federal Government to strengthen its Prominence and Anti-siphoning Bill, saying it fails to guarantee millions of Australians the ability to watch live sports or find free services on their smart devices.
Free TV CEO Bridget Fair said the bill set an unnecessarily long timeframe to secure the availability of free local TV services on smart TVs. And those reliant on the internet for free TV viewing would not be able to see sporting coverage.
“These two major oversights must be fixed to protect the free universal access of local TV services and sport for every Australian,” Ms Fair said.
Last year the government introduced the bill in an effort to deliver on two election commitments: support access to local TV services and free sports coverage in the streaming era, while also bringing the regulatory framework for media services into the 21st century.
Upon the bill’s second reading in November, Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland said the country’s media sector faced more competition than ever, with a swathe of new online services entering the market over the past decade.
“However, our free-to-air broadcasters are not competing on a level playing field,” Minister Rowland said. “They continue to be subject to the bulk of the obligations to deliver important public policy outcomes while their online competitors are not. This dynamic is putting important public policy outcomes at risk.
“The introduction of a prominence framework and reforms to modernise the anti-siphoning scheme will help to address this imbalance and make real progress in bringing online services into Australia’s media regulatory framework. These amendments will promote consumer and citizen access and choice, and help support a strong and sustainable media industry.”
While the current bill prevents subscription streaming services from buying exclusive terrestrial broadcast rights to big sporting events such as the Olympics, they can still acquire exclusive digital rights and lock out millions who watch free sport on services like 7plus, 9Now and 10 Play.
Ms Fair said as the proportion of households watching TV online grew to half by 2027, the anti-siphoning list would be fundamentally undermined if it did not apply to digital rights.
“Bidding for sport will become commercially unviable if free-to-air broadcasters can only acquire a narrow range of terrestrial rights, leaving paid services to acquire all sporting events,” Ms Fair said.
“This is exactly the nightmare scenario the government is trying to avoid with this bill – so it must be amended to reflect modern viewing habits.
“Many new homes do not even have antennas installed. All Australians deserve access to the great sporting events, trusted news and great entertainment programs that bring our nation together, regardless of their income or whether they have an antenna on their home.”
Free TV has called on the government to change the bill so it requires free broadcast and free digital streaming rights to be acquired by a free broadcaster before the event can be acquired by a pay-TV or subscription streaming provider. And to not extend the automatic delisting period from six to 12 months, stating that many sporting events are acquired within this timeframe.
Another issue raised by Free TV is the bill only requires free apps of local broadcasters and a Live TV tile to be available on new smart TVs manufactured 18 months after the legislation receives assent.
“This needless delay will mean millions of people who buy new TVs will unnecessarily miss out on the benefits of this bill,” Ms Fair said. “There is no good reason to delay enforcing the rules beyond six months after they become law at the absolute maximum.
“The government should also apply the new rules to existing TVs – not just new ones – with expert analysis showing software can easily be updated to benefit people who already have a smart TV.
“The problem of not being able to find local TV services is something people are experiencing already. If we wait until 2026 to even start addressing the problem, it will simply be too little, too late.”
