The fact that the marriage of the TV channels TF1 and M6 will not take placeis a line through the account of the owners Bouygues and RTL. But the decisionalso echoes in the Netherlands, where a similar merger is under scrutiny.Indirectly, Belgian interests are also at stake.
The biggest media marriage in French corporate history has come to naught. OnFriday, the broadcasting groups M6 and TF1 announced that their merger plansare being withdrawn. The owners RTL and Bouygues wanted to merge their Frenchtelevision subsidiaries to create a television giant that could take a standagainst streaming competitors such as Netflix, Amazon and Disney.
But the TV giant stood on clay feet from the start. Together, the two Frenchchannels would control three quarters of the French television advertisingmarket. A figure that smells like a monopoly, and which the French competitionwatchdog put a stop to.
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To get the merger of M6 and TF1 approved, one of the flagship transmitters hadto be divested. “
The French Autorité de la Concurrence allowed the merger to take place only ifone of the two flagships – TF1 or M6 – were to be divested. As a result, therationale behind the merger expired, as a result of which Bouygues and RTL arenow canceling them.
Parallels
The process was also closely monitored in the Netherlands. At about the sametime as the French TV merger, a similar TV deal was launched with our northernneighbors. Above the Moerdijk, RTL and Talpa (again) fell into each other’sarms. There too, that could create a local giant, with a market share intelevision advertising of more than 70 percent.
RTL does not want to draw too heavy parallels. “It is a different matter and adifferent supervisor,” a spokesperson told the Dutch newspaper Het FinancieeleDagblad. For this, the company refers, among other things, to the strongerposition of the public broadcaster in the market for TV advertising in theNetherlands, compared to France.
But media experts mainly see similarities. Like their colleagues in France,RTL and Talpa in the Netherlands argue that their dominance in the TV marketshould be seen in a more modern context, where classic television and onlineviewing are increasingly intertwined.
If you approach the market in this way, you can argue that the merger does notcreate a single dominant player, but that a strong local player is better ableto defend itself against the emerging multinational violence of the mostlyAmerican streamers.
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If the Dutch regulator blocks the merger of Talpa and RTL, there may be asecond chance for DPG Media. “
That reasoning was therefore not followed in France, and the TV market isstill considered there on its own. This line was also followed in previousfiles in other European countries. It seems unlikely that the competitionauthority in the Netherlands will now change that reasoning.
smiling third
What the Dutch supervisor decides in the future will also be followed closelyin Belgium. Before the merger of RTL and Talpa was announced, DPG Media wasalso interested in acquiring the Dutch RTL channels. Christian Van Thillo’sgroup is already fully active in print – with de Volkskrant, AD and Trouwamong others – and on the radio – with Qmusic. TV is still a blind spot forDPG.
Should the Dutch competition watchdog oblige the potential merger group todivest large chunks or block the merger completely, DPG can present itself asa smiling third party. Suppose that RTL still wants to get rid of its Dutchactivities. Who knows, Van Thillo will get a second chance.
Belgian profession
In Belgium, the takeover of the Walloon RTL Belgium by the media groups DPGMedia and Rossel was approved at the beginning of this year subject toconditions. But here too the takeover of an RTL subsidiary – price tag: 215million euros – is still under scrutiny. In June, the media group IPM and theadvertising agency Ads & Data lodged an appeal against the decision of theBelgian Competition Authority (BMA).
IPM chief executive François le Hodey then said in parliament that he foundthe BMA’s decision “very lazy” and that “key points were not analysed”. Thefirst hearing in that appeal will take place in December. However, the appealdoes not suspend the decision of the BMA.