1. Mergers and acquisitions in TV broadcasting and distribution: challenges for competition, industrial and media policy
- Author
-
Tom Evens, Karen Donders, Communication Sciences, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences and Solvay Business School, and Studies in Media, Innovation and Technology
- Subjects
Horizontal and vertical ,Computer Networks and Communications ,POWER ,Distribution (economics) ,Social Sciences ,050801 communication & media studies ,Business model ,Industrial policy ,Vertical integration ,MARKETS ,media policy ,Competition (economics) ,EMPIRICAL-ANALYSIS ,0508 media and communications ,Market economy ,Broadcasting (networking) ,CABLE-TELEVISION INDUSTRY ,PIVOTAL BUYERS ,0502 economics and business ,Mergers and acquisitions ,CONVERGENCE ,Economics ,distribution ,050207 economics ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,WELFARE ,Industrial organization ,VERTICAL INTEGRATION ,industrial policy ,US ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,regulation ,LOWER PRICES ,business model ,TV broadcasting ,competition policy ,business - Abstract
M&A activity in TV broadcasting and distribution industries is heating up.Consolidation wave produces global powerhouses that control entire TV value chain.Competition policy has imposed behavioural and structural remedies.Industrial and media-specific policies are virtually absent from policy agendas.Call for a more integrated policy approach towards M&A in TV markets. This article focuses on the recent wave of M&A activity, both vertical and horizontal, in TV broadcasting and distribution industries, and discusses the implications of M&A activity for competition, industrial and media policymaking. Moreover, it aspires to set a forward-looking perspective on the regulation of M&A in the TV industry. It is argued that while EU competition policy has difficulties to fully grasp anti-competitive effects resulting from vertical M&A activity in particular, industrial and media-specific policies dealing with the creation of an economically and culturally sustainable, European broadcasting and distribution sector are virtually absent from national and European policy agendas. It is particular in the latter two domains of policymaking that policy action is necessary.
- Published
- 2016