The CNMC is preparing to impose a fine on Mediaset and Atresmedia that will change the television business forever. The National Commission of Markets and Competition plans to sanction each of the two main open operators in this country with around 43 million euros, as EL MUNDO has learned.

This punishment that together would touch the 90 million euros is the result of a file opened in February 2018 for " possible restrictive practices of competition " when marketing the advertising spaces of the chains of these two private groups. Although the sanction could account for up to 5% of annual income, the calculations proposed in the regulator remain at 4.5%, which in any case also leads to a sanction of large proportions.

The CNMC has studied whether these companies would have demanded from advertisers and media agencies the fulfillment of minimum advertising investment quotas, as well as contracting in different channels through the packaged sale, the so-called single guideline. According to sources in this newspaper, the conclusion of the investigation is inclined to determine that there was an abuse of the dominant position to prevent the normal development of the market.

In vilo the chains and Marín Burned in functions

Radio Blanca (Kiss) and the Spanish Association of Digital Terrestrial Private Televisions appeared in that file opened ex officio by the great supervisor. Mediaset and Atresmedia took the case to the National Court, but then established talks with the CNMC to explore a possible understanding: that conventional termination process, as that term is called to reach an agreement, resulted in the rejection by CNMC to the operators' commitments, last May.

The file continued its course and the threat of sanction has weighed more and more on the two television operators. The maximum penalty, of 50 million euros for each one, seems not to be reached, but the 43 that are already calculated are not very far from that figure in this fine.

Mediaset, which includes Telecinco and Cuatro, has already announced the "immediate challenge" of any verdict, and has also charged openly against José María Marín Quemada. The president of the CNMC, in addition, for a month has exercised his duties with the expired mandate, an unresolved issue in the absence of government. To Marín Quemada, the group led by Paolo Vasile attributes an " animosity repeatedly shown publicly " against the two operators and which would lead to "a resolution that seems already decided ahead of time."

Marín Quemada advocates the existence of four actors in the different competition scenarios, from telecommunications to audiovisual. However, Mediaset has publicly affected him that the law of 2009 encouraged precisely the authorization of concentrations in television, "with the aim of resolving the economic unfeasibility of the last two actors coming to the market. Based on that thesis, Mediaset (Telecinco ) was done with Cuatro, while Atresmedia integrated Antena 3 and La Sexta. " We are extremely nervous about duopolies , not to mention monopolies," said Marín Quemada.

In the same line that Mediaset has stated Atresmedia, which controls chains such as Antena 3 and La Sexta: "We will appeal the decision before the CNMC council and, if necessary, before the National Court, to continue defending the absolute and total legality of our commercial policy, "they warned from the company.

Sources in this newspaper confirm that both groups plan to appeal any resolution contrary to their interests, even before the Supreme Court, where appropriate. They have reasons for this: their business model is in question, with a turnaround in the advertising marketing model, in addition to the large fines.

Duopoly or industry engine?

Infoadex reflects in its latest annual report that Mediaset accounts for 43.3% of television investment and Atresmedia 40.5%. Together, both groups covered in 2018 83.5% of the total investment invested in television ; the rest is distributed among the other national televisions in open, the regional chains, the channels of payment and the local televisions. Since 2010, TVE does not host advertising.

However, it is important to remember the importance of Mediaset and Atresmedia in the fabric of the Spanish audiovisual industry, as both jointly dedicate around 900 million euros per year in content , well above any other market operator.

The CNMC has not found collusion in Mediaset and Atresmedia, but apart from that price pact, it has managed to advance its research through several channels. The first is the prohibition of advertising packages being packaged, which results in practices such as the single guideline (same ads on different channels at the same time), although this formula is already eradicated in the big chains of both television operators.

Another practice that would be extinguished is that of extraprimates, that is, commercial advantages when a greater volume of advertising spaces is acquired, a modus operandi that large televisions do not find different from those assumed in other economic activities.

Finally, it has also been questioned the establishment of minimum quotas for contracting advertising spaces, which for the aforementioned chains would also fall within normality, since higher sales are prioritized over lower ones.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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