site.btaAnti-Trust Commission Finds Distortion of Competition on Media Market

Sofia, June 29 (BTA) - Having done an analysis of the media market in Bulgaria, the Commission for the Protection of Competition found worsening market conditions and distortion of competition for distribution of TV programmes and the market for television content. The regulator says that the remedy is in policies "for cleansing the grey sector from the media market.

Considering the ongoing trend for vertical media concentration and participation of the same players on several media markets simultaneously, the Commission believes that a register needs to be set up of the real owners of media organizations and the distributors of media content, the analysis says.

The Commission has found that the bulk of advertising budgets get funnelled to the large media groups, which puts to question the survival of smaller market players. The Commission therefore believes that all additional funding (other than the established method of financing or business model) for the market participants with public resources, including targeted funding from various programmes, should obey clear rules and transparent and nondiscriminatory conditions, and be controlled rigorously.