Streaming TV giants including Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ could face tighter regulation in the UK under new government proposals. With methods .

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Proposed UK OTT Regulations Could Harm, Not Help, Consumers

Streaming TV giants including Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ could face tighter regulation in the UK under new government proposals. With methods of watching "TV'' changing, viewing today is about consumer choice: When, where and how are the choices of the viewer and no longer purely the choice of the broadcaster. To address this new paradigm, should a pro-business government consider market forces and a light touch rather than trying to impose tighter restrictions on VoD services that will ultimately lead to a poorer consumer experience?

The worst possible outcome could result in operators withdrawing from the market leading to less consumer choice, and the loss of UK jobs and much-needed revenue for the UK government. John Griffiths, CCO at Spicy Mango, discusses how this increased regulation could have the opposite results the government intends by limiting innovation and creativity, and not level the playing field as they expect.

The Regulation Headache

The rules that apply to on-demand program services (ODPS), as Ofcom, calls them are significantly less onerous than those that apply to traditional broadcasters, especially the BBC, and the government's proposed review is something that has been a long time coming.

With the UK government considering the imposition of tighter regulations, the challenges faced would create technology, process, and commercial upset for nearly every provider. Monitoring the compliance of new regulations across all on-demand services from Netflix to iPlayer and 4OD, will bear an equally significant challenge on the regulator, and one which would need investment and new technology to resolve.

Most ODPS platforms have only the minimum features to manage the regulatory elements that they must comply with today. This is because current regulation was largely put together in a linear (live) broadcast world and doesn’t transpose neatly to the on-demand world. For example, the watershed for the broadcast of certain content, does not lend itself to a service where the viewer can choose when to watch the program.

A Level Playing Field

Legislation and regulation often struggles to play catch up to technological innovation in general, and this is equally true regarding the consumption of on-demand video content. When the delivery mechanism is broadcast over digital, terrestrial, cable, or satellite to your traditional TV, this is subject to a schedule defined by the broadcaster and so the regulations are the same across the board for all broadcasters. The rules set out by Ofcom ensure that these licensed operators are all subject to the same treatment and must meet the same standards. UK-based on-demand programme services must register their service with Ofcom, but are subject to different rules to the broadcasters. So, what can be done in order to make it fairer to all services delivering video to consumers regardless of delivery platform?

On-demand service providers such as Netflix, whose European headquarters is located in the Netherlands, is not covered by UK regulations (they fall under the control of the Dutch regulator). They are perceived to have an advantage over broadcasters and ODPSs in the UK by being able to show content with no regard to the rules that govern a broadcaster or on-demand service provider based in the UK.

The reality is, perhaps, not quite as portrayed by some media and the government. In order to earn the trust of consumers and show corporate responsibility, Netflix undertook a massive exercise to age-classify its entire UK catalogue in line with British Board of Film Classification age ratings. There was no regulation or law that forced them to do this, but an understanding that they have a duty of c...