June 09, 2026
If Audiences Can’t Find Us, They Can’t Choose Us
On a modern smart TV, reaching Netflix takes a single click. Finding your public broadcaster can take seventeen.That difference is no accident. It is the result of design choices that are quietly reshaping what people watch, hear and ultimately trust.
In today’s digital media landscape, strong local content is no longer guaranteed to be visible. Global streaming platforms, connected TVs and device interfaces have become the new gatekeepers of media consumption. And those gatekeepers are far from neutral. Visibility is bought and sold, placement is negotiated, and prominence is too often determined by commercial interests rather than public value.
The consequences are easy to see. Platforms like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Spotify and YouTube are pre-installed, prominently displayed and sometimes even featured on remote-control buttons. “Fast buttons”. Local services - public and commercial alike, from VRT MAX, over Play to VTM GO and Streamz - are often buried behind menus, search functions and endless scrolling.
We measured it ourselves. And we know what happens when content becomes harder to find: audiences simply stop looking for it.
This is far from a marginal issue. By our own rough estimate, a local app buried at the bottom of a smart TV interface can lose 35% up to 75% of its usage. Move them into a prominent position, and usage can increase tenfold.
Visibility is not a technical detail. It is not a theoretical issue either. It determines whether content is consumed at all. And without reach, public service media cannot fulfil its democratic, cultural and social mission. Without reach, local commercial media cannot continue their investments in local content.
What is at stake here goes well beyond individual broadcasters. This is about the future of local cultural production, access to independent and trustworthy news, social cohesion, and the diversity of voices which shape public debate. It is about media pluralism and informed citizenship.
When the media that connect people to their own communities and societies are pushed off-screen, citizens are ultimately the ones who lose information, culture and ultimately their sense of belonging.
And here lies the uncomfortable reality: there is no level playing field.
Public and private local broadcasters alike are increasingly sidelined by powerful global gatekeepers. We negotiate the discoverability of our content from a structurally weaker position, with little transparency about how ranking decisions are made or whose interests they ultimately serve. In the linear broadcasting era, regulation ensured prominence for content of general interest. In the digital world, that safeguard has quietly eroded.
The ongoing revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive offers a chance to correct this.
Today, Article 7a remains optional, ambiguous and constrained by the country-of-origin principle), leaving national initiatives - including those in Flanders where our minister of media and Flemish government understands the importance of prominence for Flemish content - only partially effective. The European Commission should make due prominence mandatory, clarify its scope and introduce a targeted derogation to allow Member States to enforce prominence obligations on services based in other countries. At present, the European Commission at best adopts a very ambiguous position regarding the actual adoption and implementation of due prominence regulation in its Member States. This is convincingly demonstrated by research by dr. Adelaida Afilipoaie and Professor Dr. Tim Raats (2026).
The standpoint of the European Commission, moreover, is not in line with its discourse on European content, the threats of big tech, and the importance of digital sovereignty.
Countries such as the United Kingdom and France already provide stronger guarantees for the visibility of public service media. Europe should aim no lower.
Our message to policymakers is straightforward: ensure that content serving the public interest remains easy to find, clearly visible and genuinely accessible. This is not about protectionism. It is about ensuring a level playing field and, in so doing, discoverability of our content. Then it is up to consumers to make their choice, an actual choice.
We stand ready to help make that happen. In Flanders, public service media and commercial media side by side.
Karen Donders, Director of Public Value and Talent & Organisation, VRT
Aline De Beir, Policy Advisor, VRT
