Netflix and Apple oppose NZ content quota - unlike most submitters on plan

Monday, 30 June 2025

Netflix and Apple have pushed back strongly against a proposal floated by the Culture and Heritage Ministry that they and other streaming television providers should be required to ensure a set proportion of their programming is locally made.

The ministry issued a discussion document in February on that and a number of other proposals to improve access to local programming.

Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith said at the time that the Government was focused on ensuring New Zealand continued to have access to “our stories and music”.

“We want to ensure that streaming platforms and TV broadcasters invest in local content and implement measures to make sure that it’s discoverable on their pages,” he told a select committee.

The Culture and Heritage Ministry (MCH) said in a summary of submissions released on Friday that there was broad support for its proposal to “increase investment into and discoverability of local content”, with 80% of 147 submissions on that topic in favour.

But Netflix said in its submission there was no barrier for New Zealanders easily discovering and enjoying “diverse and inclusive New Zealand content”.

Streaming television companies already had a commercial incentive to ensure subscribers could find the content they wanted to enjoy, it said.

The ministry’s discussion paper included “no data that indicated New Zealanders were demanding greater access to local content”, let alone that they expected that from streaming television companies from which they would need to pay to access it, the company said.

Apple argued that a local content requirement could act as a barrier to competition by making it harder for new streaming TV services to get off the ground.

“Apple’s own subscription service, AppleTV+, has a small number of high-quality productions intended for a global audience,” it said.

The MCH discussion paper said a “manual scan” in September indicated Amazon Prime had just over 10 New Zealand titles in its catalogue, while Netflix held fewer than 10.

Disney and Apple+ had none, while Sky TV’s Neon had more than 50 home-grown titles including local productions commissioned by Sky, it said.

TVNZ was one of many organisations involved in local productions that backed the ministry’s proposals.

It suggested international streaming platforms operating in New Zealand should be required to reinvest 5% of their gross local revenues back into the local production sector.

Actors union Equity said a requirement for overseas streaming services to invest in local content would put them on a level playing field with domestic broadcasters.

“They have taken significant profit from local content providers, yet currently there is no obligation for them to invest any of their profits in New Zealand, nor do they pay significant tax on their earnings,” it said.

The Screen Guild, which is one of number of organisations representing the local creative sector, said a requirement to make and invest in local content would be an important step toward what it described as “cultural sustainability”.

A related issue the ministry has been considering is whether manufacturers of smart TVs should be required to pre-load and prominently display local streaming services in their app menus.

Most submitters also supported that suggestion, but – along with Netflix and Apple – the United States-based Computer & Communications Industry Association opposed that potential requirement.

Requiring foreign smart TV makers to pre-load and promote the applications of local broadcasters would confer them with “preferential treatment” the association said, describing that as a “highly prescriptive measure based on the untested premise that New Zealand consumers need to be artificially induced to consume local content”.

The ministry noted any final decisions on the reform package would require Cabinet approval.