Assessing media mergers and acquisitions: The power pyramids of regulatory cooperation | Intellect Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Journal of Digital Media & Policy
  4. Volume 15, Issue 1
  5. Article
Volume 15, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2516-3523
  • E-ISSN: 2516-3531

Abstract

Due to the media goods’ dual economic and cultural role, merger and acquisition (M&A) assessments are complex and differ from M&As in other sectors. An additional layer of complexity is added to the assessment when various authorities are involved. An even more complicated matter is when the authorities have different remits. These authorities mostly comprise National Competition Authorities that enforce competition law, focused on economic considerations, and National Regulatory Authorities that enforce and oversee the application of media law, focused not only on setting rules and limitations on the media market but also on considering non-economic elements such as plurality. In certain countries, ministries and government authorities can intervene in these assessments.

There have been discussions on the need for cooperation between authorities, however, mostly at the international level. Thus, little is known about the current cooperation procedures at the national level. The article proposes a typology of cooperation at the EU member states level and the United Kingdom and introduces the concept of the ‘power pyramid’ to represent the hierarchical relationships between authorities. Cooperation proves that competition policy and media-specific regulation are intertwined and are complementary. Furthermore, the article shows that having more than one authority assessing media M&As leads to media pluralism being more often explicitly one of the criteria used in the assessments, and thus providing a more holistic approach.

© 2024 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jdmp_00101_1
2022-05-05
2024-05-03
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Alexiadis, Peter and da Silva Pereira Neto, Caio Mario (2019), Competing Architectures for Regulatory And Competition Law Governance, Florence: Florence School of Regulation, https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/aeb71412-722d-11ea-a07e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en. Accessed 7 June 2021.
  2. Ashenfelter, Orley and Hosken, Daniel (2010), ‘The effect of mergers on consumer prices: Evidence from five mergers on the enforcement margin’, Journal of Law and Economics, 53:3, pp. 417–66, https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/605092. Accessed 31 August 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Ballon, Pieter (2014), ‘Old and new issues in media economics’, in K. Donders, C. Pauwels and J. Loisen (eds), The Palgrave Handbook of European Media Policy, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 70–95, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057%2F9781137032195_5. Accessed 12 August 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Budzinski, Oliver and Kuchinke, Björn (2018), ‘Modern industrial organization theory of media markets and competition policy implications’, Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers, No. 115, https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/182542/1/1031111565.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Cappello, Maja (2020), Media Pluralism and Competition Issues, Strasbourg: European Audiovisual Observatory, https://rm.coe.int/iris-special-1-2020en-media-pluralism-and-competition-issues/1680a08455. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Curtin, Tom (ed.) (2007), ‘Stakeholders within the power pyramid’, Managing Green Issues, 2nd ed., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 55–64, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230800854. Accessed 19 August 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Dabbah, Maher (2011), ‘The relationship between competition authorities and sector regulators’, The Cambridge Law Journal, 70:1, pp. 113–43, https://www.jstor.org/stable/41300946?seq=9#metadata_info_tab_contents. Accessed 19 August 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Deane, James (2015), ‘Media and communication in governance: It’s time for a rethink’, in A. Whaites, E. Gonzalez, S. Fyson and G. Teskey (eds), A Governance Practitioner’s Notebook: Alternative Ideas and Approaches, Paris: OECD, pp. 265–80, https://www.oecd.org/dac/accountable-effective-institutions/Governance%20Notebook.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Donders, Karen (2021), Public Service Media in Europe: Law, Theory and Practice, Abingdon: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Doyle, Gillian (2002), Understanding Media Economics, London: Sage.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Doyle, Gillian (2013), Understanding Media Economics, 2nd ed., London: Sage.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Doyle, Gillian (2015), ‘Why ownership pluralism still matters in a multi-platform world’, in P. Valcke, R. Picard and M. Sükösd (eds), Media Pluralism: Concepts, Risks and Global Trends, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 297–309, https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/42364913.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Dunne, Niamh (2021), ‘The role of regulation in EU competition law assessment’, World Competition, 44:3, pp. 287–306, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3871315. Accessed 9 December 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. ERGA (2015), ERGA Report on the Independence of National Regulatory Authorities, ERGA, https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/erga-report-independence-national-regulatory-authorities. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. ERGA (2020), ERGA Statement on the European Commission’s Proposals For a ‘Digital Services Act’ (DSA) and a ‘Digital Markets Act’ (DMA), ERGA, March, https://erga-online.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ERGA-DSA-DMA-Statement_29032021.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. European Commission (2004), ‘Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 of 20 January 2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (the EC Merger Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance)’, Official Journal of the European Union, L 24, pp. 1–22, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32004R0139&from=EN. Accessed 31 July 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. European Parliament and the Council of the EU (2010), ‘Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services’, Official Journal of the European Union, L 95, pp. 1–24, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32010L0013&from=EN. Accessed 18 February 2019.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. European Parliament and the Council of the EU (2018a), ‘Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of The European Parliament and of  The Council of 14 November 2018 amending Directive 2010/13/ EU’, Official Journal of the European Union, L 303, pp. 69–92, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018L1808&qid=1550491395985&from=en. Accessed 18 February 2019.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. European Parliament and the Council of the EU (2018b), ‘Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of The European Parliament and of  The Council of 11 December 2018 establishing the European Electronic Communications Code’, Official Journal of the European Union, L 321, pp. 36–214, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32018L1972&from=EN. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Evens, Tom and Donders, Karen (eds) (2018), ‘Regulating the retransmission swamp’, Platform Power and Policy in Transforming Television Markets, Cham: Springer, pp. 167–99, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-74246-5_6. Accessed 15 January 2019.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Evens, Tom and Donders, Karen (2020), ‘Regulating digital platform power’, Journal of Digital Media & Policy, 11:3, pp. 235–39, https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/jdmp/2020/00000011/00000003/art00001;jsessionid=3db57vaoit1up.x-ic-live-03. Accessed 25 November 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Freedman, Des (2014), ‘Media policy research and the media industries’, Media Industries Journal, 1:1, pp. 11–15, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/p/pod/dod-idx/media-policy-research-and-the-media-industries.pdf?c=mij;idno=15031809.0001.103;format=pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Garcia Pires, Armando (2017), ‘Media pluralism and competition’, European Journal of Law and Economics, 43:2, pp. 255–83, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10657-016-9548-x. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Genakos, Christos, Valletti, Tommaso and Verboven, Frank (2017), ‘Evaluating market consolidation in mobile communications’, CESifo Working Paper Series No. 6509, 8 June, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2992480. Accessed 31 August 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Germano, Fabrizio (2017), ‘Media failures and media markets’, Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional, January, https://www.crei.cat/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Opuscle-43_ANG.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Gill, Derek (2016), ‘Defining regulatory management systems’, ERIA-DP-2016-13 ERIA Discussion Paper Series ERIA-NZIER-MPC Technical Paper Series on Regulatory Management, RURB, and International Regulatory Cooperation, https://www.eria.org/ERIA-DP-2016-13.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
  27. Guidi, Mattia, Guardiancich, Igor and Levi-Faur, David (2020), ‘Modes of regulatory governance: A political economy perspective’, Governance, 33:1, pp. 5–19, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gove.12479. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Gupta, Pradeep Kumar (2012), ‘Mergers and acquisitions (M&A): The strategic concepts for the nuptials of corporate sector’, Innovative Journal of Business and Management, 1:4, pp. 60–68, https://www.innovativejournal.in/index.php/ijbm/article/view/389. Accessed 10 October 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Hendrickx, Jonathan and Ranaivoson, Heritiana (2019), ‘Why and how higher media concentration equals lower news diversity: The Mediahuis case’, Journalism, 22:11, pp. 2800–15, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1464884919894138. Accessed 31 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. High Level Group on Media Freedom and Pluralism (2013), A Free and Pluralistic Media to Sustain European Democracy, European Commission, https://ec.europa.eu/information_society/media_taskforce/doc/pluralism/hlg/hlg_final_report.pdf. Accessed 10 December 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Hollick, Clive (1994), ‘Media regulation and democracy’, Index on Censorship, 23:4–5, pp. 54–58, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03064229408535735. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Høyer, Rolf (2010), ‘Regulatory intervention to prevent ownership concentration in the Norwegian newspaper market’, in O. Hultén, S. Tjernström and S. Melesko (eds), Media Mergers and the Defence of Pluralism, Gothenburg: Nordicom, pp. 93–114, https://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/publications/media-mergers-and-defence-pluralism. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Hultén, Olof, Tjernström, Sune and Melesko, Stefan (2010), ‘The challenge of new technologies and new business practices’, in O. Hultén, S. Tjernström and S. Melesko (eds), Media Mergers and the Defence of Pluralism, Gothenburg: Nordicom, pp. 9–21, https://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/publications/media-mergers-and-defence-pluralism. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Iosifidis, Petros (2014), ‘Pluralism, media mergers and European merger control’, in K. Donders, C. Pauwels and J. Loisen (eds), The Palgrave Handbook of European Media Policy, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 461–75, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137032195_25. Accessed 31 August 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Kjaer, Poul F. and Vetterlein, Antje (2018), ‘Regulatory governance: Rules, resistance and responsibility’, Contemporary Politics, 24:5, pp. 497–506, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569775.2018.1452527. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Klossa, Gillaume (2019), Towards European Media Sovereignty: An Industrial Media Strategy to Leverage Data, Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence, European Union, March, https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/guillaume_klossa_special_report-european_media_sovereignty-executive_summary.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Ladegaard, Peter (2001), Regulatory Management and Report Seminar, OECD, November, https://www.oecd.org/governance/regulatory-policy/2724495.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Leigh, Andrew and Triggs, Adam (2016), ‘Markets, monopolies and moguls: The relationship between inequality and competition’, Australian Economic Review, 49:4, pp. 389–412, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8462.12185. Accessed 31 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Losee, John (ed.) (2001), A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, 4th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, https://www.academia.edu/30430381/A_Historical_Introduction_to_the_Philosophy_of_Science_Fourth_edition. Accessed 20 August 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Lunt, Peter and Livingstone, Sonia (eds) (2011), Media Regulation: Governance and the Interests of Citizens and Consumers, London: Sage.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Murschetz, Paul Clemens (2019), ‘Media policy in the European Union: A synoptic overview of the legislative framework and a critical review of some current issues’, in P. Sigismondi (ed.), World Entertainment Media: Global, Regional and Local Perspectives, New York: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Noam, Eli (2016), Who Owns the World’s Media? Media Concentration and Ownership around the World, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. OECD (2005), Regulatory Reform: Experience From OECD Countries, OECD, https://www.oecd.org/mena/governance/40501864.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. OECD (2012), Recommendation of The Council on Regulatory Policy and Governance, OECD, https://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/49990817.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. OECD (2020), International Regulatory Co-Operation: Adapting Rulemaking for an Interconnected World, OECD, April, https://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/international-regulatory-cooperation-policy-brief-2020.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Ofcom (2009), ‘Ofcom’s second public service broadcasting review: Phase one – The digital opportunity’, Ofcom, 10 April, https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/psb2_1. Accessed 7 June 2021.
  47. Ofcom (2020), ‘UK regulators join forces to ensure online services work well for consumers and businesses’, Ofcom, 1 July, https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2020/regulators-join-forces-to-ensure-online-services-work-for-consumers-and-businesses. Accessed 7 June 2021.
  48. Picard, Robert G. and Zotto, Cinzia Dal (2015), ‘The dimension of ownership and control of media’, in P. Valcke, M. Sükösd and R. G. Picard (eds), Media Pluralism and Diversity, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 54–66.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Puppis, Manuel (2010), ‘Media governance: A new concept for the analysis of media policy and regulation’, Communication, Culture & Critique, 3:2, pp. 134–49, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-9137.2010.01063.x. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Ranaivoson, Heritiana, Afilipoaie, Adelaida, Magyar, Monika, Raats, Tim and Donders, Karen (2021), ‘Media ownership and transparency in the EU’, in Study on the Implementation of the New Provisions in the Revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) Final Report, European Commission, pp. 127–233, https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/study-implementation-new-provisions-revised-audiovisual-media-services-directive-avmsd. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Röller, Lars-Hendrik and De La Mano, Miguel (2006), ‘The impact of the new substantive test in European merger control’, European Competition Journal, 2:1, pp. 9–28, https://ec.europa.eu/dgs/competition/economist/merger_control_test.pdf. Accessed 10 December 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. van Rompuy, Ben (2012), Economic Efficiency: The Sole Concern of Modern Antitrust Policy? Non-efficiency Considerations Under Article 101 TFEU, Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer Law International, https://lrus.wolterskluwer.com/store/product/economic-efficiency-the-sole-concern-of-modern-antitrust-policy-non-efficiency-considerations-under-article-101-tfeu/. Accessed 22 March 2019.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Shelanski, Howard A. (2006), ‘Antitrust law as mass media regulation: Can merger standards protect the public interest?’, California Law Review, 94:2, pp. 371–421, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20439038?origin=crossref. Accessed 19 March 2019.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Sustrina, Monty (2009), ‘Research methodology in doctoral research: Understanding the meaning of conducting qualitative research’, in A. Ross (ed.), Proceedings of the Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM) Doctoral Workshop, Liverpool, ARCOM, 12 May, pp. 48–57, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275956584_Research_Methodology_in_Doctoral_Research_Understanding_the_Meaning_of_Conducting_Qualitative_Research. Accessed 20 August 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Trappel, Josef and Nieminen, Hannu (2018), ‘Media and democracy: A couple walking hand in hand?’, in L. d’Haenens, H. Sousa and J. Trappel (eds), Comparative Media Policy, Regulation and Governance in Europe: Unpacking the Policy Cycle, Bristol: Intellect, pp. 185–206, https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/30508/645611.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed 7 June 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/jdmp_00101_1
Loading
Assessing media mergers and acquisitions: The power pyramids of regulatory cooperation
Journal of Digital Media & Policy 15, 7 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1386/jdmp_00101_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jdmp_00101_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jdmp_00101_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): competition policy; interinstitutional collaboration; market consolidation; media regulatory governance; media-specific regulation; National Competition Authorities; National Regulatory Authorities; pluralism

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error