Amazon has given major broadcasters three weeks’ notice that it will demand a 30 per cent cut of revenue from all advertising that runs while someone watches their programming through its Fire TV devices.
“It’s simply outrageous that with so little notice, a player like Amazon can turn around to the local TV industry and demand a whopping 30 per cent of advertising revenue sold by broadcasters in their own apps,” she said. SBS managing director James Taylor said that the change could undermine many Australians’ ability to access free, local content.“The notion that these huge global players are rent-seeking revenue that would otherwise go to more content for our audiences – the Australian public – is outrageous,” he said. “This is precisely why prominence matters.”Although the terms were first proposed by Amazon in June, network insiders say they were only made aware of the change last week.
The threat is that if the networks don’t pay up, they will be de-listed or downgraded within the app stores for platforms like Fire TV. Legislated “prominence” would take away the leverage tech players and connected TV manufacturers have over networks.Aerial TV audiences have been declining over the past decade, as streaming and other competition for consumers’ attention grows.