Application by Chinese Taipei's three television broadcasting companies for joint purchasing of broadcasting rights for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, subscription to satellite paths, allocation of programs and production of commercials
Case:
Application by Chinese Taipei's three television broadcasting companies for joint purchasing of broadcasting rights for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, subscription to satellite paths, allocation of programs and production of commercials
Key Words:
Joint purchase of broadcasting rights; subscription to satellite paths; drawing of lots to determine programs to be broadcasted
Reference:
Fair Trade Commission Decision of August 31, 2000 (the 460th Commissioners' Meeting); Disposition (89) Kung Yi Tzu No. 8909862-002
Industry:
Television Industry (8520)
Relevant Laws:
Summary:
1. The Fair Trade Commission (the Commission) has decided that the application filed by Taiwan Television Enterprise, Ltd., China Television Company, Ltd., and the Chinese Television System, for joint purchase of broadcasting rights, subscription to satellite paths, and drawing of lots to determine programs to be broadcasted is beneficial to the overall economy and is in public interest. The application also conforms to the proviso Article 14(5) of the Fair Trade Law regarding "joint action in regard to the import of foreign goods for the purpose of strengthening trade." To sum up, the application is approved for the following reasons: (1) Joint purchase of broadcasting rights can be categorized as the purchase of foreign goods. Furthermore, the benefit of joint importation produced by the participating enterprises exceeds that of individual importation. This helps reduce costs and enhance the efficiency of trade. (2) Joint subscription to international satellite paths may also be considered as purchasing foreign goods. This not only helps reduce costs and enhance the efficiency of trade, but also makes more convenient and efficient use of technologies. . (3) The proposed method of drawing lots to determine the allocation of programs to be re-broadcasted involves a concerted action which is short in duration, has limited negative impact in terms of restraints on competition, and does not hinder market competition between the applicants with regard to the re-broadcasting of Olympic programming. 2. Further, considering the need to maintain competition in the market and to avoid improper exclusion of competitors, the International Olympic Committee approves sale of re-broadcasting rights, with the proviso that it be informed of such sale and that it be entitled to share the revenue with the re-broadcasters. In addition, the scheduling of such broadcastings is actually irrelevant to the cost reduction brought by the joint purchase of broadcasting rights. In order to prevent the applicants from using the approval for concerted action to carry out other concerted actions, and in consideration of the Commission's duty supervision, time limits and extra obligations will be imposed at the time of approval pursuant to Article 15 of the Fair Trade Law. The conditions imposed are: (1) As the joint purchasing of broadcast rights, subscription to cable paths, and drawing of lots to determine programming to be broadcasted individually is beneficial to the overall economy and the public interest, approval is granted for concerted action for the period from 15 September 2000 to 1 October 2000. (2) The applicants may not use improper means to exclude other competitors from participation in the concerted action or to refuse requests for repeated broadcasting, and may not jointly determine broadcasting schedule or use this approval to engage in any other concerted actions or the violation of relevant provisions of the Fair Trade Law. (3) The applicants shall, within one month from the conclusion of the concerted action, report to the Commission the revenues obtained during the period of their concerted action. Appendix: Taiwan Television Enterprise, Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 20685000 China Television Company, Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 18556774 Chinese Television System's Uniform Invoice Number: 20516997 Summarized by Chen Jiunn Ting and Lin Chien Ching; Supervised by Lin Yow Ching