The Government has announced it wants TVNZ+, Sky's ThreeNow and other local streaming apps front and centre on all TVs sold locally — and it intends to force electronics manufacturers to comply.
The decision lands as the local media industry grapples with a longer-term shift away from linear broadcast transmission towards internet-only delivery — and concerns that future TVs could otherwise arrive with no New Zealand content by default.
Media Minister Paul Goldsmith said the requirement would apply to manufacturers importing TVs into New Zealand, with the apps needing to be easy to find.
"[Apps] are prominent when you plug the TV in, the homepage comes up, and some are already installed, so we expect our local New Zealand apps to be part of that," he said.
Global services often come preinstalled and with prime position on televisions — including, for example, a dedicated Netflix button built into TV remotes.
"No local apps were found to be preinstalled on the newest models of two major brands," Goldsmith said. "Prominence affects viewership, and in turn, advertising revenue.
"Therefore, the Government has agreed to require manufacturers of smart TVs and streaming devices sold in New Zealand to pre-install local media apps, and make them easily accessible from the home screen."
The starting line-up of apps would be TVNZ+, Sky's ThreeNow and MĀORI+, the minister said, with scope for others to be added later.
Goldsmith told 1News the change followed similar new rules in Australia and the UK, which the Government would continue to monitor as it developed its own rules.
"It's essentially the same idea, which is to ensure that our local media have a fair crack."
The minister said decisions were still to come on which regulator would oversee the scheme and what tools it would have to deal with non-compliance.
He said the rules would require legislation to pass through Parliament, followed by a pause before taking effect to give manufacturers time to change how they operated.
"There's usually quite a lag of about maybe 18 months, because the producers of these TVs need to be given plenty of time to change the way that they do things."
The requirement would not initially extend to gaming consoles or streaming set-top boxes, he said, although that could be considered as the legislation was developed.
TVNZ welcomed the move, saying it was vital local services were easy to find as audiences increasingly accessed content through connected TVs.
"Local media organisations that create jobs, pay tax and invest in telling New Zealand stories should not be disadvantaged in their own market," a spokesperson said.
"Global streaming platforms can effectively buy prominence without making the same contribution to our creative sector or economy."
Sky was approached for comment yesterday evening.
Pressure expected to grow on traditional free-to-air
Victoria University associate professor Peter Thompson, who researched media policy, said audiences valued local content but would not necessarily seek it out on their own.
"New Zealand audiences do like local content… but they like it when they find it, not necessarily going to go and look for it," Thompson told 1News before the announcement.
The Government's new rules come as broadcasters weigh the next moves into an internet-first era and what that meant for free-to-air access and the future of local viewing.
The prospect of a terrestrial switch-off has been building for some years.
Two years ago, TV3's then-owner, Warner Bros Discovery, had told government officials an internal date for ceasing digital terrestrial broadcasts was mid-2025 — a date that came and went. The company has since sold TV3 to Sky.
Another shake-up underway for the NZ media landscape as a free-to-air TV operations changes hands. (Source: 1News)
TVNZ had also previously said it was internally planning for a possible future switch-off.
Goldsmith said there was no firm date on how long terrestrial broadcasting would continue. "Countless people will be tuning in to this through the spectrum, and that will continue for some time yet," he said.
Thompson said linear television was on what he called an "irreversible downward decline" in the longer term, but he expected some viewing to endure.
"Rumours of its demise have often been premature," Thompson said.
He added cost pressures were likely to push some broadcasters to close all but their core channels, as declining audiences and advertising revenue made smaller, niche channels harder to justify.
"The margins of keeping those small channels, those niche channels running becomes less and less sustainable," he said.
He said broadcasters also had to pay for spectrum management rights and rent transmission infrastructure from state-owned enterprise Kordia.
As fewer channels stayed on linear transmission, he said, the economy of scale for maintaining that infrastructure would also fall away.
No internal Freeview dates for wind-down
Speaking to 1News before Goldsmith's latest announcement, Freeview general manager Leon Mead said the linear platform — still in two-thirds of Kiwi homes — was focused on preserving free access to local content as viewing habits changed.
Mead said he saw a logical role for a Freeview standard in any prominence regime, describing it as "a very easy and obvious path".
Freeview recently launched what it called a world-first rollout of a new internet-based standard, DVB-I, branded Freeview NextGen. The technology lets viewers tune in to free-to-air channels over broadband or Wi-Fi without an aerial or satellite dish.
Unlike a separate streaming app, the channels appeared in the usual TV guide and could be flicked through like normal live TV.
He said Freeview had not locked in any dates internally, noting that government decisions on spectrum licensing – which the organisation believed came up in 2033 – were among several factors.
"We've been obviously trying to understand from the industry what is that likely date, but no one's yet put forward a 'this is what we think the plan is'.
"I think we're still probably a little ways off having a plan able to be locked in."
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