MediaSense isn't out of the woods yet

 
Advertising Market: It remains unclear whether the Competition Commission will open proceedings against SRG’s advertising agency Publisuisse or its newly established radio advertising subsidiary MediaSense. «We are looking into the matter. This may take a few more weeks,» writes Weko spokesperson Patrik Ducrey. One thing is certain: Following a complaint against Publisuisse and MediaSense, Weko is investigating «possible abuses of a dominant market position.»The possible reason for the complaint: Since July 1, 2007, MediaSense has been marketing the Swiss Radio Pool (SRP)—15 mostly large publisher-owned radio stations with a total reach of around 2 million listeners. Although MediaSense—which is 51 percent owned by Publisuisse and 49 percent by the SRP radio stations—does not have an exclusive lease, it stipulated that the SRP can now only be booked via the SRG tool Publiplan—for which Publisuisse charges a fee in each case. Was this really the bone of contention? There likely isn’t anything wrong with the corporate structure itself; the Weko Secretariat had already approved it back in April. (mk)