RTÉ welcomes Competition Authority decision publication

RTÉ today (Tuesday 17 January, 2012) welcomed the publication of the Competition Authority's formally-titled 'Enforcement Decision'. This marks the close of an investigation by the Authority following RTÉ's planned change of the manner in which it sells television airtime. RTÉ wishes to thank the Authority for its engagement with RTÉ over the period and for taking on board RTÉ's ongoing review of our trading practices.

The Competition Authority had preliminary concerns about the manner in which RTÉ traded. RTÉ was happy to cooperate with the Competition Authority on this issue and has done so since December 2009. As a result of an internal strategic business review, RTÉ decided to change to a new trading system in mid-2012. RTÉ informed the Competition Authority of its planned actions.

RTÉ's strategic business review included extensive consultations with the advertising sector in May 2011, during which a range of potential future trading mechanisms were discussed. The introduction of RTÉ's new trading system will begin in July of this year and will no longer contain discounts based on share of spend. The new system will be modelled on the experience of public service broadcasters across Europe. Details will be available to customers and will be published on the web following a further period of consultation with key stakeholders in the advertising sector.

It is important to note that no finding of anti-competitive behaviour has been made against RTÉ. This 'enforcement decision' is not one which seeks to enforce any ruling or finding against RTÉ, rather it is a preliminary analysis of the issues by the Competition Authority and an outline of its approach. The Competition Authority does not have any enforcement powers in this area. The Competition Authority has chosen not to pursue any action through the Courts.

Commercial Director, RTÉ Television, Geraldine O'Leary stated:
"We are continually looking at how we do what we do and trying to do it better. In the fifteen years I've been working here in RTÉ, our structures and sales methods have changed on several occasions. The move away from share trading is part of a broader review of how we function in a rapidly-changing and highly competitive market in which RTÉ is one of many Irish and UK-based players. What we are moving towards now is a system which allows us best maximise RTÉ's opportunities in the current marketplace. It is under development and we look forward to bringing it to our stakeholders for further discussion."