Over the past two decades, video-on-demand (VOD) services have become an important area of media policy, communications-infrastructure development, and the digital economy. The main aim of this study is to compare the governance arrangements for VOD infrastructure and their implications for innovation policy in the United States, the People's Republic of China, Türkiye, and Iran. Using a qualitative approach and the method of comparative documentary analysis, the study examines laws, policy documents, and academic sources relevant to the four countries under study. The comparative analysis rests on five indicators—transparency, accountability, stakeholder participation, rule of law, and efficiency and effectiveness—and draws on the concepts of national innovation systems and platform governance to interpret the relationships among governments, regulators, firms, and other stakeholders.

The findings reveal four distinct institutional arrangements: predominantly market-based governance in the United States, centralized state control in China, a relative separation of content and infrastructure governance in Türkiye, and a multi-agency structure marked by overlapping jurisdictions in Iran. The comparison shows that policy instability is not confined to developing countries, although its form and consequences vary with each country's institutional structure. In Iran's case, the key challenges identified include overlapping institutional jurisdictions, legal ambiguity surrounding the concept of "pervasive audio-visual media," the unpredictability of certain regulatory practices in the sector, and limited formal channels for stakeholder participation. Accordingly, the study proposes drafting a comprehensive law on convergent media, distinguishing publisher-oriented services from user-oriented platforms, clearly assigning institutional responsibilities, and institutionalizing mechanisms for stakeholder participation.