EU broadcasters push DMA to cover voice TVs
European broadcasters are urging the EU to extend the Digital Markets Act to smart TVs and voice assistants, arguing platform gatekeepers now control living‑room distribution and voice‑driven access. That pressure could force new interoperability and third‑party access rules for CarPlay, Apple TV, and HomePod ecosystems. (storyboard18.com)
A coalition of audiovisual and radio sector representatives sent a joint letter to European Commission Executive Vice‑President Teresa Ribera on 23 March 2026 requesting formal action under the Digital Markets Act ahead of the Commission’s DMA review. (ebu.ch) The letter explicitly asks the Commission to designate major connected‑TV operating‑system providers and virtual‑assistant platforms as DMA “gatekeepers,” to open market investigations where the DMA’s quantitative thresholds are not met, and to reinterpret the definition of “business users.” (ebu.ch) Industry data cited by the signatories shows Android TV rising from 16% to 23% market share in Europe between 2019 and 2024, Amazon’s Fire OS growing from 5% to 12% in the same period, and Samsung’s Tizen holding roughly a 24% share. (storyboard18.com) The DMA’s formal gatekeeper presumptions require either at least €7.5 billion in annual EU turnover in each of the last three financial years or an average market capitalisation of €75 billion, plus at least 45 million monthly end users and 10,000 business users in the EU. (eur-lex.europa.eu) Broadcasters warned that voice interfaces such as Amazon Alexa and Apple Siri, plus emerging AI assistants, function as discovery and distribution chokepoints and noted the Commission’s 2025 consultation summary already recorded stakeholder calls to consider these services for designation. (storyboard18.com) The groups asked the Commission to use Article 3(8) of the DMA to launch market investigations where providers fall short of quantitative thresholds but exert qualitative gatekeeping influence. (advanced-television.com) The joint démarche was timed to feed into the Commission’s ongoing DMA review and the high‑level expert group process, meaning any change in scope for core platform services could emerge during the Commission’s next assessment cycle. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu)
