The Federal Competition Authority (BWB) has approved the Italian Berlusconi group MFE (Media For Europe) sole control of ProSiebenSat1 Media SE (P7S1) after MFE committed to a number of conditions. There must be no reduction in the local content of the P7S1 Austria group. The headquarters and administration of P7S1-Austria must remain in Austria. The EU Commission had already approved the merger in September 2023.
The BWB exclusively examined the effects on media diversity of the merger in Austria and requested a more in-depth examination by the cartel court because it was feared that media diversity would be impaired by greater pressure to reduce costs and a reduction in local content. The BWB saw problems due to a possible weakening of the financial and editorial independence of the P7S1 Austria group. In Austria, Puls4 and ATV, among others, belong to the German television group.
The Federal Cartel Attorney argued that P7S1 is currently a listed stock corporation in which conflicting interests of the shareholders would prevent influence on the content, while in a family-controlled AG the interests of the owners would be reflected in the reporting. With the intended increase in shareholding in P7S1, MFE would effectively take over sole control of P7S1.
MFE has now promised to maintain the independence of the management and editor-in-chief of P7S1-Austria and has committed itself to the existing editorial statutes. Independence should be maintained through its own budget and through the allocation of Austrian advertising marketing. MFE must report annually to the BWB and the Federal Cartel Attorney about its influence at P7S1, the composition of the editor-in-chief and management, the advertising revenue, the changes to the editorial statutes and the share of news and local productions.
2024-02-08 15:10:19