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Spain: Media agencies blow whistle on Mediaset and AtresMedia collusion

By  |  May 15, 2018
Spain: Media agencies blow whistle on Mediaset and AtresMedia collusion

Various advertising agencies and Spanish media have revealed to the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), the competition authority in the country, the existence of clear signs that point to an advertising collusion between media giants Mediaset and Atresmedia . As El Español has learned, these testimonies have already been sent to the regulator to join the file opened against the two audiovisual giants.

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    the CNMC sent dozens of questionnaires a little more than a month ago to most of the Ibex 35 companies, as well as to multinationals of consumption, technology, distribution and food. They were also sent to all the major media agencies. Its main intention was to verify the existence of practices that confirm the violation of Article 1 of the Law of Defense of Competition (LDC).

    The CNMC has detected indications of the violation of the principles of competition, based on the mechanisms of contracting with advertisers and media agencies, “conditions in which obligations are contained that could be contrary to the proper functioning of the market …”

    The regulator believes that these two audiovisual groups require advertisers and media agencies to comply with the relative quotas of advertising investment in their respective televisions and that, in addition, they force the joint contracting of advertising in their different television channels through the broadcast in several channels at once (simulcast). The testimonies of advertisers would have confirmed to the CNMC the existence of all these practices.

    The CNMC has 18 months to issue its verdict, but the information confirmed to the digital newspaper, indicate that the investigation is advancing rapidly and that it is likely that sentence will be pronounced before the end of the year.

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