Following an in-depth Phase II merger investigation, the European Commission cleared Liberty Global/Telenet’s acquisition of the (downstream) media group De Vijver Media, subject to binding commitments (24 February).

The Flanders-based De Vijver owns the Flemish-language TV channels Vier and Vijf, produces TV content and sells advertising space on a number of TV channels. Liberty Global, the largest international cable company, is the majority owner of Belgian cable company Telenet, the dominant network provider in Flanders that holds 78% of the distribution market.

The EBU intervened in the case to express its concerns about third-party broadcasters' future access to a dominant platform operated by a fully vertically integrated entity.

The Commission identified a number of competition concerns, including the likelihood that Telenet would in the future refuse to supply its TV channels Vier and Vijf to competing TV distributors. To address these concerns, Liberty Global agreed to offer the channels Vier and Vijf (and any other future Vijver Media channel) to other distributors according to fair and reasonable conditions. This commitment will remain in place for 7 years.

With respect to access to the platform, Telenet will continue to be obliged to carry VRT’s channels according to the Belgian "must carry" rules. However, the Commission considered that as a result of its vertical integration, the merged entity would have the ability and incentive to discriminate against competing broadcasters (such as VRT and Medialaan) in more subtle ways, particularly on the broadband platform. For example, VOD content might be displayed less prominently than Telenet/De Vijver’s own content.

The European Commission considered that these concerns were resolved by Liberty Global committing to prolong Telenet’s existing distribution agreement with VRT, as well as by offering to prolong its distribution agreement with the commercial broadcaster Medialaan for 6 months.

The EBU welcomes these commitments but remains concerned about the longer term situation regarding access to and prominence on the Liberty Global platform for its Members’ linear and online services.