On March 23, 2026, a coalition of Europe’s leading commercial and public broadcasters, including heavyweights like RTL, Vivendi’s Canal+, and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), issued a formal plea to European Union antitrust regulators. Their demand is clear: the scope of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) must be expanded to include the operating systems of Smart TVs and voice assistants controlled by Big Tech.
This move marks a new frontier in the battle for digital competition, shifting the focus from smartphones and search engines to the “living room gateways” managed by Google, Amazon, and Apple. To understand the broadcasters’ demand, one must first look at the twin pillars of the EU’s digital strategy: the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA). The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a pro-competition tool designed to curb the power of “gatekeepers” large digital platforms that provide a core gateway between business users and consumers. Its primary objective is to ensure “fairness and contestability” in the digital sector. Unlike traditional antitrust law, which intervenes after a monopoly has caused harm, the DMA is ex-ante legislation; it sets out a list of “dos and don’ts” that companies must follow by default.
The Digital Services Act (DSA), conversely, focuses on content and safety. It aims to protect users from illegal content, disinformation, and “dark patterns” (manipulative user interfaces). Together, these laws represent the most ambitious attempt globally to regulate the digital economy, moving away from a laissez-faire approach to a highly structured regulatory environment.
The current frustration voiced by broadcasters stems from a perceived loophole in the DMA’s implementation. While the EU has designated “gatekeepers” in areas like operating systems (iOS, Android), browsers (Chrome, Safari), and social media, the software powering Smart TVs and voice-activated AI remains largely unregulated in a specific, sector-targeted way.
Broadcasters argue that companies like Google (Android TV/Google TV), Amazon (Fire OS), and Apple (tvOS) act as digital bottlenecks. When a consumer turns on a Smart TV, the “prime real estate” on the home screen the apps and content recommendations shown first is controlled by the hardware and software provider.
European broadcasters claim these tech giants engage in “self-preferencing” prioritizing their own streaming services (like YouTube or Amazon Prime Video) while burying local news and domestic cultural programming behind layers of menus. Furthermore, they allege that these platforms often demand a significant cut of advertising revenue or access to sensitive viewer data in exchange for prominent placement on the device.
The demand for “faster enforcement” and expanded scope seeks to achieve three primary objectives. First, increased prominence of public interest content, such as news. Broadcasters want the DMA to ensure that local news and culturally significant content are “easily discoverable.” In a democratic society, the inability to find reliable, local news because a Smart TV is pushing a global blockbuster movie is seen as a threat to media plurality. Second demand is Data Sovereignty; under current configurations, Big Tech platforms often capture the data of viewers watching traditional TV apps. Broadcasters are demanding that they, not the platform provider, should own the relationship and the data generated by their audience. Lastly, the broadcasters are calling for rules that prevent tech companies from restricting how third-party apps function on their operating systems, ensuring that local media can offer high-quality features without being throttled by the platform owner.
This news highlights a growing impatience among EU lawmakers and industry stakeholders. While the DMA officially came into full effect for designated gatekeepers in 2024, the broadcasters’ revolt suggests that the tech landscape is evolving faster than the current designations.
The inclusion of voice assistants is particularly significant. As AI-driven assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant become the primary way people “search” for information or music, the risk of a single company controlling the “answer” becomes a massive antitrust concern. If a user asks, “Play the news,” and the assistant only plays a podcast from its own parent company, it stifles competition from independent newsrooms.
Expanding the DMA to Smart TVs is not without complications. Big Tech firms argue that their investments in these operating systems provide a seamless, high-quality experience for consumers that traditional broadcasters failed to build. They contend that imposing heavy-handed regulations could stifle innovation in AI and smart home integration.
However, the EU’s stance has consistently leaned toward the “open ecosystem” model. The objective of the EU digital rule legislation is not to punish success, but to ensure that the success of one company does not come at the expense of the entire ecosystem’s health. By preventing “walled gardens” in the living room, the EU hopes to foster a market where a small, local filmmaker or a national broadcaster has as much of a chance to reach an audience as a trillion-dollar tech titan.
The call from European broadcasters on March 23 is a litmus test for the agility of the EU’s digital framework. If regulators agree to bring Smart TVs and voice assistants under the DMA’s strict oversight, it will signal a permanent shift in how we view household technology. These devices will no longer be seen merely as “hardware” but as critical infrastructure for the information age. For the EU, the goal remains the same: ensuring that the digital transition serves the interests of citizens and fair competition, rather than just the balance sheets of a few global gatekeepers.