Today’s Community Shield match between Manchester United and Manchester City officially kicks off the English Premier League football season. The Italian football season is due to start on August 28, but an inquiry into sports broadcasts by local TV service providers remains pending.
The inquiry, which started more than a year ago, was meant to look into the issue of TV football rights after discussions on sharing content broke down between service providers Melita and Go.
The Consumer and Competition Division, which has since been dissolved and merged with the new Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA), had been asked by the Parliament Social Affairs Committee to probe the issue of sporting rights in terms of the Competition Act and EU treaties. This means there are two parallel inquiries.
One concerns sports rights, mainly wholesale access. The MCCAA is trying to establish whether competition law is being breached when providers acquire exclusive rights for the transmission of all football matches from one particular football league, for example.
The second issue under the spotlight is excessive pricing, not only for the sports channels, but for the packages provided.
The campaign on football rights, spearheaded by Nationalist MP David Agius last year, gained momentum immediately after its launch because this issue affects thousands of local football fans.
Within weeks, the issue reached Parliament where representatives of the key stakeholders met to discuss sharing content which would mean views do not have to subscribe to two providers to watch both the UEFA Champions League and the international leagues. The situation has, however, remained unchanged. Go has retained the rights to air the Italian Serie A and the English Premier League, while Melita has broadcasting rights for the Champions League.
Contacted yesterday, Mr Agius said he was looking forward to the MCCAA’s findings, reiterating his wish to see a sharing agreement between the service providers in the interest of customers and competition.
“I expect the authority to hand down a decision which favours consumers and competition. I hope we will have something by the time the two service providers start their bidding process for next year’s football rights.”
When contacted, a spokesman for Go said the company had always cooperated with any investigation and that it was waiting for developments from the Social Affairs Committee.
On the other hand, a Melita spokesman said the company always agreed with content and channel sharing, even when it had all the key rights in hand.
“It was at that point in time that we first approached our competitors to find a legal and acceptable way forward. We hope other providers in the market understand this too, and a solution is found as soon as possible in the interest of providers, clients and Malta in general, because millions of euros are being paid (in rights) out of the country for no reason whatsoever,” he said. Sources said that obliging service providers to share content, especially with regard to football rights, could have serious consequences on the future of broadcasting sports events in Malta.
This could mean service providers may opt not to bid for the rights once they are not assured of exclusivity.
Football rights are expensive. A three-year agreement could cost the service provider €4 million to €6 million.
The Melita spokesman also expressed his frustration that “no serious investigation or action” had been taken to tackle illegal forms of television service and illegal providers that do not conform with any regulation or law.
Clearly referring to the Dreambox, the spokesman said such TV receivers were not only harming the legitimate industry and threatening jobs, but also offering no protection for consumers.
mxuereb@timesofmalta.com