Antena 3 claims CNC’s “Unfair Merger Conditions” favor its rival Mediaset

Spanish broadcaster Antena 3 has announced that it has decided not to accept any of the conditions that the National Competition Commission (“CNC”) placed on its proposed acquisition of La Sexta. In a statement, Antena 3 opined that the conditions were unfair and discriminatory, and that they favored its rival Mindset’s dominance in the market.

18 months ago, the CNC approved Mediaset’s merger with Cuatro 18, another Spanish commercial channel, and had imposed very different conditions.

The CNC ordered Antena 3 to create two independent companies to sell advertising, as opposed to Mediaset which can advertise under a single entity. The conditions for Antena 3 would hold for 5 year, whereas Mediaset’s conditions hold for 3 years. Additionally, Antena 3 claims that conditions were imposed on the communication between the two channels, eliminating the chance for Antena 3 to obtain obvious synergies to market advertising.

Full Content: Hollywood Reporter

Related Content: Regulation of Information and Advertising

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