Three of the world’s largest streaming services have joined forces to form a new lobbying group aimed at convincing federal and state lawmakers to pass streaming-friendly legislation.
The Streaming Access and Choice Alliance, or SACA, will be led by TechNet, a trade association representing technology companies. The coalition said it will advocate for policies that expand consumer access to content, preserve choice and support streaming innovation.
Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video and Google-owned YouTube are founding members of SACA, according to an announcement released on Monday.
“Americans want more content choices and flexibility in how and where they watch their favorite programming, including sports and other live events,” Mike Ward, the Senior Vice President of Federal Policy and Government Relations at TechNet, said in a statement. “The industry and its customers deserve a dedicated voice in Washington, D.C., advocating for policies that enable innovation and address the needs of today’s consumers.”
The group is separate from the Streaming Innovation Alliance, which launched in 2023 with members including Netflix, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros Discovery and Peacock. It is also different from the Preserve Viewer Choice Coalition, a trade group that involves streaming platforms and broadcast TV networks with the sole focus of opposing efforts to bring more regulation to streaming cable-like platforms.
SACA arrives at a time when streamers are deepening their investment in live sports, which has rankled broadcast networks and their local TV affiliates. Major professional sports organizations like the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB) and National Basketball Association (NBA) have allowed streamers to bid for and buy up the rights to games and other events — programming that was, historically, offered on traditional broadcast and cable TV.
Sports leagues say its streaming pacts give fans additional avenues to watch live games, but fans have expressed displeasure over the confusing practice of trying to track down where games are available, and broadcasters say allowing streamers to grab sports rights siphons away ad revenue that is needed for other parts of their business, including local news operations.
According to Nielsen, the three founding members of SACA have the largest collective share of time spent with television on a monthly basis, with YouTube in a commanding lead. The inclusion of YouTube on Nielsen’s monthly “The Gauge” report, which offers a snapshot at time spent with TV in American homes, is controversial because the Google-owned platform does not allow YouTube content or live streams to be measured similar to that of other platforms, including Netflix, Prime Video and broadcast networks.
