ACMA Issues Guidance to TV Manufacturers Ahead of 2026 Prominence Rules

Key Takeaways

• Framework Start Date: Australia’s new TV prominence framework will apply from 10 January 2026 to all smart TVs and similar streaming devices.
• Visibility Standards: Manufacturers must design home screens that ensure Australian free-to-air broadcast and BVOD apps are easy to find, with rules on app size, shape, and location.
• Compliance Guidance: ACMA has published examples of non-compliant designs and outlined factors it will consider when assessing compliance.
• Regulatory Priority: TV prominence is a 2025–26 compliance and enforcement priority for ACMA, which will monitor industry readiness closely.

Deep Dive

Australia’s communications watchdog has released new guidance to help television manufacturers adapt to the nation’s forthcoming TV prominence framework, a regulatory shift designed to ensure Australian audiences can more easily find free-to-air channels and their digital counterparts.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced on 21 August 2025 that the framework, set to take effect from 10 January 2026, will apply to all smart TVs and similar streaming devices supplied in the country. The rules require manufacturers to design home screens and user interfaces that meet minimum standards on the visibility and placement of free-to-air broadcast services and broadcasting video-on-demand (BVOD) apps.

ACMA’s guidance sets out practical considerations for compliance, including how the size, shape, and location of apps on TV home screens should be configured. It also provides illustrative examples of interface designs that would likely fail to satisfy the prominence requirements.

Importantly, the regulator has confirmed that TV prominence is a 2025–26 compliance and enforcement priority. ACMA said it will continue engaging closely with industry in the coming months to ensure readiness, while making clear that enforcement action will follow if manufacturers fail to comply once the framework is in force.

For manufacturers, the message is clear: user experience design will now need to meet regulatory scrutiny. The ACMA’s guidance signals that companies will be judged not only on whether Australian broadcast apps are included, but also on whether they are sufficiently visible and accessible relative to competing services.

The prominence framework reflects broader global debates around digital platform design and fairness, echoing concerns from policymakers in other jurisdictions about the ability of dominant platforms to obscure or downgrade public interest services. For the Australian broadcasting sector, it represents an effort to preserve the visibility of free-to-air services in a streaming-first era.

Manufacturers now have less than five months to adjust designs before the rules officially apply, with ACMA promising continued engagement but also a readiness to enforce compliance once the framework takes effect.

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