This marks the first time competing streaming-video providers have come together in a unified lobbying front.
Several leading streaming services, including Netflix, Max, and The Walt Disney Co., have come together to establish the Streaming Innovation Alliance (SIA). This alliance is dedicated to advocating for federal and state policies that benefit the streaming industry.
The members of the Streaming Innovation Alliance include AfroLandTV, America Nu Network, BET+, discovery+, For Us by Us Network, MPA (Motion Picture Association), MotorTrend+, Paramount+, Peacock, PlutoTV, Telemundo, Televisa Univision, Vault TV, and Vix.
Notably, the coalition has enlisted the expertise of former Republican Representative Fred Upton and former Democratic acting FCC chair Mignon Clyburn as senior advisers. Charles Rivkin, the Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association, played a pivotal role in facilitating the collaboration between these streaming platforms.
In a statement, Rivkin said: “Streaming provides great value, vast programming choices and unprecedented options for consumers. The MPA looks forward to working with the SIA and its members to ensure federal and state policy propels this incredible innovation forward — and doesn’t undermine the value and diversity consumers are enjoying today.”
The alliance’s inaugural action involves the release of a new poll, which revealed that found registered voters “favour streaming innovation and are wary of proposals to regulate the market.” These regulatory proposals could encompass requirements for streaming services to collect more user data or introduce measures that might deter them from offering sensitive programming.
Clyburn added: “Streaming services have opened up a new era of progress for programme diversity that is bringing relevant stories and options to historically underserved communities at a record pace while opening doors for production jobs to people of colour that have been shut for decades. Any policy that drags down streaming would turn back the clock on this vital progress as well.”
Upton stated: “The rise of innovative, new video streaming services is an American success story we should celebrate and encourage, not smother with obsolete and ill-fitting rules and regulations designed for completely different technology, products and business models. Viewers have never gotten more for their entertainment dollars, and I urge policymakers to resist any effort to curtail this hugely beneficial innovation. Let’s not allow some backwards-looking regulatory scheme to block gains consumers so strongly value and appreciate today.”
This initiative comes after the formation earlier this year of the Coalition for Local News, which comprises owners of over 600 local TV stations advocating for changes in the negotiation process for streaming deals involving local TV content. Existing FCC regulations contain a loophole that allows streaming platforms to negotiate directly with network owners rather than local station owners.
