Free TV, the lobby group for free to air TV broadcasters, are apparently in Canberra today to ask/blackmail the government for some new laws to keep their businesses viable. They argue it's unfair companies like Amazon and Netflix are paying TV makers to get dedicated buttons on remotes and their apps on the front of TV home screens, while Australian apps (7plus, 10 Play, etc) are left to languish as virtual second class citizens. To resolve this, Free TV wants a law that'll force TV makers to "include access to all TV channels provided by our free local networks, install all local TV apps in the first positions on home screens, and to offer free local TV content first in search results and recommendations". I bet it will happen too. Interesting to see if they'll force it not just on the built-in smart TV interfaces, but on set top boxes like Apple TV, Chromecast and so on.
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