TV3 cries foul over RTE's deal on top soccer
CONOR SWEENEY
EUROPEAN EDITOR in BRUSSELS
RTE may have scored a last minute own-goal with the EU by its summertime purchase of the rights to show the UEFA Champions League. The national broadcaster's deal has now been referred to the European Commission by TV3, just ahead of a long-anticipated decision on the prolonged investigation into RTE's operations.
The 'soccer wars' may yet become a crucial factor to back up TV3's complaint that it can't compete fairly against RTE, which receives over €170m per year in licence fees, as well as €130m revenue from advertising
For the past six months, the Commission's state aid experts have been scrutinising how RTE funds its operations, focusing on whether itscommercial and public sector activities are separated properly.
From 2006, RTE will broadcast what UEFA describes as the two 'first choice' games free-to-air while Setanta Sports will broadcast other games.
The Commission is already poised to demand changes to the corporate structures at RTE to create greater transparency and impose some form of accountability.
But TV3 believes that it has been delivered a vital piece of evidence to back up its long-running accusation that RTE abuses its licence fee receipts to outbid it for purely commercial broadcasts.
In its latest submission, TV3 points out that that with the deal to buy the Champions League, RTE has a complete monopoly on free-to-air broadcasting of most popular sports. These include rugby, tennis, horse-racing, Gaelic football and hurling.
"RTE shot its bolt a bit too early and a bit too greedily," explained one Brussels source.
"It's the only country in Europe where one broadcaster has all the sports rights."
When approached, TV3 confirmed that it had now made an additional complaint to the Commission's competition officials.
"The BBC doesn't run the Champions League because it considers it too commercial, ARD in Germany takes the same view," said David McMunn, TV3's legal expert.
"We have brought it up with Commission, we have been in contact with them, but we can't say what the Commission will do."
The Commission won't comment officially on ongoing investigations. But it could simply conclude that TV3's latest complaint is no more than sour grapes after losing out to RTE to maintain coverage it already held.
Nevertheless, TV3 is hopeful that the latest sports deal will trigger a much tougher reaction from the Commission. Mr McMunn points out that under the Commission's own guidelines, sports rights are fundamental to a commercial station.
"This definitely assists us. The Minister made it clear in April that the licence shouldn't be used to acquire commercial broadcasting," he said.
Sensitive to the different cultural climates in each country, EU rules on what constitutes public sector broadcasting carefully avoid defining what comes under this remit. RTE has always argued that it is perfectly legitimate to run commercial programming to shore up its overall viewership figures and remain competitive.
However, EU officials have already made it clear to national broadcasters in Germany and elsewhere that it cannot abuse this position to squeeze out competition. "Whatever RTE does is currently defined as 'public service' and that's obviously a nonsense," said Mr McMunn.
As a result of the probe, it's expected that for the first time, RTE at a corporate level will be forced, by the Commission, to answer to an outside body, such as the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independe...issue_id=13011
