The Competition Tribunal has approved an MTV Networks Africa (MTV) settlement agreement for a package of remedies amounting to R17.3m for price-fixing and fixing of trading conditions.
The agreement between the MTV and the Competition Commission relates to a media collusion case that involves over 20 media companies.
“The Commission is hopeful that other media companies, implicated in the matter, will consider settling with the Commission while the process still allows them to do so,” it said in a statement on Sunday.
MTV is the sixth media company that agreed to settle on charges relating to price-fixing and the fixing of trading conditions.
The case stretches back to a November 2011 investigation which found that, through the Media Credit Co-Ordinators (MCC), various media companies agreed to offer similar discounts and payment terms to advertising agencies that place advertisements with MCC members.
“The Commission found that the practices restricted competition among the competing companies, as they did not independently determine the discounts and thereby fixed the price and trading terms in contravention of the Competition Act,” it explained.
In addition to paying penalties, the companies that have settled have also agreed to various remedies including paying contributions to the Economic Development Fund and providing bonus advertising space to qualifying small agencies.
Media24 agreed to pay an administrative penalty amounting to R13.83m, Provantage Media agreed to pay R1m, Caxton & CTP Publishers and Printers Ltd agreed to pay an amount of R5.8m, Independent Media (Pty) Ltd agreed to pay R2m and DStv Media Sales (Pty) Ltd agreed to pay R22m.
This news was culled from Fin 24
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