TV companies say state aid may be endangering market

Competition in the broadcasting market is being “seriously endangered” by current state aid rules, a major conference in Brussels has been told.

Ross Biggam, director general of the Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT), told a conference on Thursday that, in light of rapid change in the media industry, “It is important to rectify certain failures so as to have clear rules ensuring competition in the audiovisual market.”

He insisted that it was not the aim of commercial channels to keep public broadcasters out of the potentially lucrative digital and online media. “The question at stake is only the appropriate extent of, and regulatory framework for, the participation of the publicly funded sector in the new media,” he said.

Concern about the future role of commercial and public broadcasting in digital media has led to calls by commercial TV channels for a review of state aid rules to public service broadcasters. Currently, public broadcasters in Europe receive an estimated €22bn of public funding.

The conference, organised by the ACT, comes ahead of the commission’s expected review of the 2001 broadcasting communication.

Biggam’s concerns are shared by Victor Castro Rosa of the Portuguese channel TVI, who said, “It is not sufficient to accept the status quo.

“We need to update the rules and ensure that the parameters of competition law in the field of state aid to public broadcasters are clarified.

“Competition in the audiovisual market is seriously endangered by current practices of over-competition, risks of market foreclosure and insufficient control mechanisms.”

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