Irish broadcasters call for levy on streaming services

Representatives from the broadcasting industry are before the Oireachtas Media Committee to discuss the forthcoming Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill, which will establish a media regulator that will for the first time oversee streaming services. File photo: PA

Irish broadcasters have called for a levy on streaming platforms which target Irish customers.

Representatives from the broadcasting industry are before the Oireachtas Media Committee to discuss the forthcoming Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill, which will establish a media regulator that will for the first time oversee streaming services.

Rory Coveney, Director of Strategy at RTÉ, told the committee that the "findability" of Irish channels on platforms was of critical importance and called for a content levy on producers of content which target Irish audiences.

“Significant revenue is derived by media service providers located elsewhere, which target Irish audiences, but which have no obligation to invest in Irish content."

He said that the bill was a "unique opportunity" to bring about such a levy.

“The funds derived from such a levy would provide an invaluable stimulus for the independent production sector here that has been devastated first by the economic crash and more recently by Covid-19.”

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However, Peter McCarthy from Virgin Media said that levies needed to go beyond traditional broadcasters so as to not further compound imbalances in the market.

“To impose a levy only on traditional broadcasters would further compound this imbalance."

Alan Esslemont, the head of TG4, told the committee that a head must be included in the bill to "give prominence to public service broadcasting". 

He said that this would protect Gaeltacht communities from what he called "language shift". He said that TG4 had been trying "for years" to get onto Sky's platforms but had seen "years of foot-dragging".

However, Mark Carpenter from Sky Ireland said that such a tax should be flexible as the proposal from Irish broadcasters could be "distortionary".

“If a levy scheme is considered viable, it is highly likely that the best way to deliver positive results, for the audio-visual sector, and for the Irish economy as a whole, is to encourage investment while also providing media service providers with a level of flexibility.

“We also believe that this could be achieved via other avenues which are less distortionary than content levies have the potential to be."