European broadcasters urge EC to apply gatekeeper rules to CTVs
March 23, 2026
A joint letter has been sent to the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Competition, Teresa Ribera calling on the European Commission within the framework of the Digital Markets Act to:
- Designate major connected TV Operating Systems and Virtual Assistant providers as gatekeepers
- If allegedly none of them meet the quantitative thresholds, to open a market investigation on the basis of the qualitative thresholds (Article 3(8))
- Review the definition of ‘business users’ for the purpose of designating Virtual Assistants as gatekeepers, in the context of the ongoing review of the DMA. The definition must be interpreted broadly, applied in a technology-neutral manner, and encompass all entities that significantly rely on the VAs platform to reach end users.
The letter notes: “The EU connected TV operating system market is becoming more concentrated around large ecosystem platforms. From 2019 to 2024:
- Android TV increased its market share from 16 per cent to 23 per cent
- Amazon Fire OS rose from 5 per cent to 12 per cent, driven by a dual model combining proprietary devices and licensing to third-party TV manufacturers
- Samsung’s Tizen OS maintained a 24 per cent market share”
“With the future viability of many European TV broadcasters at stake, and with millions of EU businesses and consumers relying on CTVs to promote and access an expanding range of content via TV applications, it is crucial that the Commission designate major TV operating systems as gatekeepers and ensure adequate oversight to guarantee fairness and contestability. CTVs assume a central intermediary role between media providers and end-users and can therefore exercise significant influence over the discoverability, accessibility and use of media services.”
The letter is cosigned by the following European broadcasting associations:
- Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT)
- Association of European Radios (AER)
- Asociace komerčních televizí (AKTV)
- Slovak Television Broadcasters’ Association (ATVS)
- Asociația Română de Comunicații Audiovizuale (ARCA)
- Confindustria Radio Televisioni (CRTV)
- European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
- European association of television and radio sales houses (egta)
- Televisión Comercial en Abierto (UTECA)
- Verband Privater Medien (VAUNET)
- Verband Österreichischer Privatsender (VOP)
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