"Lawyers and media issues - that rarely goes well".
Edipresse publisher Pierre Lamunière criticizes the Swiss Federal Competition Commission
Edipresse publisher Pierre Lamunière criticizes the Swiss Federal Competition CommissionIn an interview with WerbeWoche, Edipresse publisher Pierre Lamunière explains his criticism of the Swiss Federal Competition Commission. The Commission has not yet understood that only large and strong media groups have a chance of surviving in the mega-merger wave that is underway worldwide (see also page 19).At this year's annual press conference, you dealt out vicious verbal blows to the Swiss Federal Competition Commission. The scolding was triggered by problems at Edipresse in Geneva. What happened?
Pierre Lamunière: A year ago, we wanted to take over some small neighborhood newspapers. We had to go through a veritable paper and form mill to get approval. But this is just one example. Look at what is currently happening in the Bern area: The Berner Zeitung group wants to expand a little, and the Competition Commission is making a huge deal out of it. That's completely absurd. The Swiss media groups can hardly grow any more. But you have to be able to grow in order to have a chance in the future.
Other countries also protect competition in order to prevent monopolies and dominant market positions.
Lamunière: Sure, but the other countries are much bigger. In the US, the situation in the American media market is crucial, and this consists of hundreds of millions of people. We, on the other hand, are seven million. And the Competition Commission also divides the Swiss market into language regions. Even worse: it uses the regional markets as benchmarks and examines, for example, whether there are dominant positions in the Bern area. It's as if the American competition authorities wanted to ensure that no dominant market position emerges in the south of South Carolina.
Would it be better to just let things run their course? Lamunière: You have to let competition run its course. You see, it's completely wrong to regard the press and media market as a closed market today. In the future, the press, TV, telecom, computer, Internet, etc. sectors will grow together more and more. Groups such as Microsoft, Warner and Telefonica are forging mega-mergers; the old boundaries are falling. If Switzerland wants to have a chance, the large Swiss media groups must be free to carry out mergers without having to fill out forms for five months beforehand. Because this delay alone can be fatal.
At the PK, you said that Switzerland needs perhaps five large and strong media groups. Who do you count among them? Edipresse, Ringier, TA-Media, NZZ Group, Basler Zeitung Group?
Lamunière: Maybe the Berner Zeitung group, maybe others. I haven't thought about it that carefully. But we can't just think about the big publishing groups. What matters to me is that if Switzerland wants to have a chance, the big publishing groups, as well as Publigroupe and Swisscom, must be able to grow and merge. But what is happening these days? They are being limited - allegedly because they are dominant or threaten to become so. When I hear that Edipresse is supposed to have a "dominant position", I have to laugh.
But you are dominant in the press world in French-speaking Switzerland? Lamunière: Once again, you can't look at the press market separately. It is quite possible that foreign operators of specialized TV channels will one day also offer print products in Switzerland: In a few years' time, the TV set will be linked to a printer. Something similar is happening in the online sector: Internet sites will increasingly also offer print services. The convergence of the Internet and the TV set thanks to the technology of the French-speaking Swiss company Kudelski ...
... whose boss André Kudelski sits on the Edipresse Board of Directors ...Lamunière: ... that's right, this convergence means that the boundaries between image and text, between press and TV and Internet, are becoming increasingly blurred. For example, the Journal de l'Horlogerie now also offers a video version on the Internet. This is the future. But the Competition Commission has not yet understood this. It's mainly lawyers who sit there. When lawyers deal with media issues, it rarely comes out well.
The blurring of boundaries probably means that Edipresse is thinking more and more about diversification in the TV sector?Lamunière: Our strategy is clear: we don't want to make television for the general public. A participation à la TV3 is absolutely out of the question for us, "télévision généraliste" doesn't interest me. But I could certainly imagine getting involved in a special-interest channel.
Will Edipresse generate any diversification steps internally, so to speak, or are you thinking about shareholdings and takeovers? Lamunière: I am by no means ruling out takeovers and shareholdings. All means that could strengthen our position are being studied. I assume that we will be able to announce one or two operations by the end of the year.
We are excited! Mr. Lamunière, thank you very much.
Interview: Christophe Büchi
Pierre Lamunière: A year ago, we wanted to take over some small neighborhood newspapers. We had to go through a veritable paper and form mill to get approval. But this is just one example. Look at what is currently happening in the Bern area: The Berner Zeitung group wants to expand a little, and the Competition Commission is making a huge deal out of it. That's completely absurd. The Swiss media groups can hardly grow any more. But you have to be able to grow in order to have a chance in the future.
Other countries also protect competition in order to prevent monopolies and dominant market positions.
Lamunière: Sure, but the other countries are much bigger. In the US, the situation in the American media market is crucial, and this consists of hundreds of millions of people. We, on the other hand, are seven million. And the Competition Commission also divides the Swiss market into language regions. Even worse: it uses the regional markets as benchmarks and examines, for example, whether there are dominant positions in the Bern area. It's as if the American competition authorities wanted to ensure that no dominant market position emerges in the south of South Carolina.
Would it be better to just let things run their course? Lamunière: You have to let competition run its course. You see, it's completely wrong to regard the press and media market as a closed market today. In the future, the press, TV, telecom, computer, Internet, etc. sectors will grow together more and more. Groups such as Microsoft, Warner and Telefonica are forging mega-mergers; the old boundaries are falling. If Switzerland wants to have a chance, the large Swiss media groups must be free to carry out mergers without having to fill out forms for five months beforehand. Because this delay alone can be fatal.
At the PK, you said that Switzerland needs perhaps five large and strong media groups. Who do you count among them? Edipresse, Ringier, TA-Media, NZZ Group, Basler Zeitung Group?
Lamunière: Maybe the Berner Zeitung group, maybe others. I haven't thought about it that carefully. But we can't just think about the big publishing groups. What matters to me is that if Switzerland wants to have a chance, the big publishing groups, as well as Publigroupe and Swisscom, must be able to grow and merge. But what is happening these days? They are being limited - allegedly because they are dominant or threaten to become so. When I hear that Edipresse is supposed to have a "dominant position", I have to laugh.
But you are dominant in the press world in French-speaking Switzerland? Lamunière: Once again, you can't look at the press market separately. It is quite possible that foreign operators of specialized TV channels will one day also offer print products in Switzerland: In a few years' time, the TV set will be linked to a printer. Something similar is happening in the online sector: Internet sites will increasingly also offer print services. The convergence of the Internet and the TV set thanks to the technology of the French-speaking Swiss company Kudelski ...
... whose boss André Kudelski sits on the Edipresse Board of Directors ...Lamunière: ... that's right, this convergence means that the boundaries between image and text, between press and TV and Internet, are becoming increasingly blurred. For example, the Journal de l'Horlogerie now also offers a video version on the Internet. This is the future. But the Competition Commission has not yet understood this. It's mainly lawyers who sit there. When lawyers deal with media issues, it rarely comes out well.
The blurring of boundaries probably means that Edipresse is thinking more and more about diversification in the TV sector?Lamunière: Our strategy is clear: we don't want to make television for the general public. A participation à la TV3 is absolutely out of the question for us, "télévision généraliste" doesn't interest me. But I could certainly imagine getting involved in a special-interest channel.
Will Edipresse generate any diversification steps internally, so to speak, or are you thinking about shareholdings and takeovers? Lamunière: I am by no means ruling out takeovers and shareholdings. All means that could strengthen our position are being studied. I assume that we will be able to announce one or two operations by the end of the year.
We are excited! Mr. Lamunière, thank you very much.
Interview: Christophe Büchi
