Media in the clinch
Competition Commission Is Radio Basilisk being disadvantaged by the monopoly of Basler Zeitung? A case for the Competition Commission (ComCo).
Competition Commission Is Radio Basilisk being disadvantaged by the monopoly of Basler Zeitung? A case for the Competition Commission (ComCo).
With the relaunch last summer, the Basler Zeitung (BaZ) banned the radio program from its pages. At the request of readers, however, it later gave the programs of DRS 1 and 2 some space again - and on a 16 square centimeter residual area also the program of Radio Basel 1, which belongs to Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM). On the other hand, rival station Basilisk is not mentioned, which annoyed its parent company Tamedia. "BaZ systematically excludes Radio Basilisk (nota bene the number 1 in the Basel area) in its program notes. In our opinion, BaZ is exploiting a dominant market position, which is why we have filed a complaint with the Competition Commission," says Tamedia spokesperson Franziska Hügli.
The Weko is taking the complaint very seriously. It is not just about a few square centimetres of newspaper space, says Deputy Director Patrik Ducrey, "but about the question of whether a company with a quasi-monopoly position is using this power on a downstream or neighboring market to the detriment of competitors or whether there are sufficient alternative options for radio listeners to find out about Radio Basilisk's radio programming". The Competition Commission has therefore requested a statement from BZM.
The third party is happyBZM is not worried, however. "We see the lawsuit more as a sign of increasing nervousness at Basilisk, because our Basel 1 is gaining more and more listeners," says CEO Beat Meyer.
When Zurich and Basel quarrel, there is joy in Winterthur. "This lawsuit is great," laughs Günter Heuberger, head of Radio Top and TeleTop. He hopes that the Weko ruling will send a clear signal to the St. Galler Tagblatt. The newspaper has been publishing the programs of Radio Aktuell and Tele- Ostschweiz, which belong to the Tagblatt Group, for years, but the top stations remain unmentioned.
Markus Knöpfli
With the relaunch last summer, the Basler Zeitung (BaZ) banned the radio program from its pages. At the request of readers, however, it later gave the programs of DRS 1 and 2 some space again - and on a 16 square centimeter residual area also the program of Radio Basel 1, which belongs to Basler Zeitung Medien (BZM). On the other hand, rival station Basilisk is not mentioned, which annoyed its parent company Tamedia. "BaZ systematically excludes Radio Basilisk (nota bene the number 1 in the Basel area) in its program notes. In our opinion, BaZ is exploiting a dominant market position, which is why we have filed a complaint with the Competition Commission," says Tamedia spokesperson Franziska Hügli.
The Weko is taking the complaint very seriously. It is not just about a few square centimetres of newspaper space, says Deputy Director Patrik Ducrey, "but about the question of whether a company with a quasi-monopoly position is using this power on a downstream or neighboring market to the detriment of competitors or whether there are sufficient alternative options for radio listeners to find out about Radio Basilisk's radio programming". The Competition Commission has therefore requested a statement from BZM.
The third party is happyBZM is not worried, however. "We see the lawsuit more as a sign of increasing nervousness at Basilisk, because our Basel 1 is gaining more and more listeners," says CEO Beat Meyer.
When Zurich and Basel quarrel, there is joy in Winterthur. "This lawsuit is great," laughs Günter Heuberger, head of Radio Top and TeleTop. He hopes that the Weko ruling will send a clear signal to the St. Galler Tagblatt. The newspaper has been publishing the programs of Radio Aktuell and Tele- Ostschweiz, which belong to the Tagblatt Group, for years, but the top stations remain unmentioned.
Markus Knöpfli
