Thursday 23 February 2017 09:13 AM
Premium sports monopoly key to Sky-Vodafone merger rejection
By Pattrick Smellie
Feb. 23 (BusinessDesk) - Ownership of “all premium sports content” by a “strongly vertically integrated pay-TV and
full-service telecommunications provider” is the key reason for the Commerce Commission’s rejection of the proposed
merger between Sky Network Television and Vodafone New Zealand.
“Had the merger not included all premium sports content we would likely have cleared this merger,” commission chair Mark
Berry told a media briefing in Wellington. The Sky Sports channel was a “unique circumstance” in the New Zealand market
because of the extent of Sky’s hold on “must-have” sports followed by New Zealanders – principally rugby and netball.
Berry said that “unresolved issues” outlined to the applicants last October had remained unresolved and that its
concerns particularly related to the impact of the merger on challenger competitors in the telecommunications market,
TwoDegrees and Vocus.
“The commission has not been able to exclude the real chance that the merger would substantially lessen competition,”
Berry said. The merger might have resulted in “more attractive offers for Sky combined with broadband and/or mobile
being available to consumers in the immediate future. However, we have to take into account the impact of the merger
over time, and uncertainty as to how this dynamic market will evolve is relevant to our assessment.”
“These are difficult markets to assess. If we are in doubt, then we are not satisfied. The onus is on the applicant to
satisfy us. If we are not satisfied, we have no option but to decline,” he told a media briefing in Wellington.
The main concern was a single telecommunications company dominating ownership of premium sports content. About half of
all New Zealand households have Sky TV and a large number are Sky Sports customers, where sport is a “must have” element
of the subscription, the commission noted.
Acknowledging the international trend for packaging of broadband, mobile and sports content was growing, the commission
said it couldn’t rule out the “real chance” that Vodafone-Sky would be able to leverage their sports content “to attract
a large number of non-Vodafone customers”.
“The potential popularity of the merged entity’s offers could result in competitors losing or failing to achieve scale
to the point that they would reduce investment or innovation in broadband and mobile markets in the future.”
The national rollout of fibre-optic cable also created “an opportune time for the merged entity to entice consumers to a
new offer”.
“If significant switching occurred, the merged entity could, in time, have the ability to price less advantageously than
without the merger or to reduce the quality of its service.”
Detailed reasoning for the decision has yet to be published.
The announcement follows yesterday’s announcement by Sky that its profitability for the first half of the current
financial year had fallen 32 percent, reflecting higher programme costs and falling subscriber numbers. Sky’s share
price closed 2.7 percent lower at $4.35 yesterday.
Telco competitor Spark New Zealand yesterday succeeded in securing a High Court-ordered stay on the merger, had the
commission approved it.
(BusinessDesk)
ends