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The applicants claim that there are reasonable grounds and suspicions that Exclusive SalesHouse and Casa Media Corp. “have implemented anti-competitive practices through a horizontal agreement which results in restricting the competition on the advertising market”. According to them, such sales houses as Casa Media and Exclusive SalesHouse presumably have an understanding that advertising placers who are ready to allocate 100% of their own advertising budgets exclusively to advertisers that place their audiovisual advertising through these two sales houses will receive additional reductions of up to 44% from the price list for audiovisual advertising. Besides, according to the notification, both sales offices agreed that 80% of the total advertising budget would be paid to Casa Media sales house, and the remaining 20% to the Exclusive SalesHouse. Under these circumstances, as signers suppose, their TV channels are likely to suffer financially because advertising agencies and advertisers will choose the cheaper placement of advertising that the two sales houses offer.
The Competition Council Will Investigate the Case
Cristina Zara, Chief Consultant of the PR and Policy Department at the Competition Council, has confirmed to Media-azi.md that the complaint is received by the national competition authority and will be examined, and the public will be informed about the results of the investigation
In addition, Mariana Rata, the Media Alternativa representative, has specified for Media-azi.md that she was informed by the CC that the institution would start an investigation on the issues presented in the complaint; after that, she will hold an official meeting with all the petitioners regarding this case.
Applicants Report the First Damage
To describe how strongly the current situation on the advertising market affects the state of things, Mariana Rata has affirmed that Media Alternativa did not sign any advertising agreements with the advertising agencies in 2018. “There are advertisement providers who do not work through the agents, they come directly to the TV stations and sign agreements there, but they are very few. We have signed two agreements of this kind. Generally speaking, however, it requires large budgets, and all the large customers work through sales agencies. Neither we nor the other three organizations that have addressed the CC have sold a second of ads through agents. I have also shown in that complaint, in the table, that all the advertising sold through agencies during the first two weeks of the year is sold to the two sales houses. The proportion is about 80% to 20%, with slight differences – 75% to 25% or 85% to 15%”, Mariana Rata emphasizes.
The representative of TV8 channel has added that the four applying organizations intend to send a letter to all Moldovan audiovisual advertising agencies as well as to placers to warn them that by placing advertising in accordance with the rules dictated by these two sales houses, they get involved in some dubious actions.
Irregularities on the Advertising Market
To support their allegations, the complainants have also attached a table with the proportions of the distribution of advertising among television channels, including 10 clients for several days in January, which, in their opinion, would show the concentration of TV advertising by such sales houses as Casa Media and Exclusive Sales.
According to Mariana Rata, the fact of the cartel agreement between the two sales houses is still not proven by documents, because “such negotiations take place through encrypted communication networks”. Still, the distortions in the advertising market have become evident, together with the fact that the advertising agencies avoid advertising at the four stations - PRO TV Chisinau, RTR-Moldova, Jurnal TV, and TV 8. Although, according to the data provided by the audience measurements, RTR Moldova TV channel, for example, is in the second place, yet this broadcaster has so far failed to get money from sales through advertising agencies, as Mariana Rata notes.
Asked by Media-azi.md to comment on this case, Galina Zablovskaya, Executive Director of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Moldova, has confirmed, with reference to personal sources, the existence of an agreement between the two sales houses. “It is a fact known on the market”, Zablovskaya has told us, adding that there is, however, no conclusive evidence that could demonstrate the existence of this understanding.
We would like to mention that, upon request of newsmaker.md portal, the representatives of Casa Media and Exclusive Sales have denied the existence of cartel agreements between the two sales houses.
Casa Media Corp. has the right to place audiovisual advertising on such TV channels as Prime, Canal 2, Canal 3, Publika TV, CTC Moldova, Familia Domashniy, N 4, and Ren-Moldova, and Exclusiv House on such TV channels as NTV Moldova, Exclusive TV, and Accent TV. Casa Media Corp. places advertising for television channels which have affiliation with the Democratic Party, while Exclusive House works with broadcasters affiliated with the Party of Socialists.
