Watchdog allows Premiere/arena German soccer deal
Pay-TV broadcaster Premiere will get to broadcast live Bundesliga soccer games under a deal approved by cartel authorities just weeks before premier-league action resumes in Germany.
Germany's cartel office will allow Premiere to sub-license broadcast rights to Bundesliga matches from rival arena, it said on Wednesday, sending Premiere shares higher. Arena will sub-licence the rights to Premiere for two seasons and in return show the premier-league matches via cable and satellite, the cartel office said in a statement.
The soccer season starts on Aug 10. Live soccer matches are Premiere's main draw.
Premiere and UnityMedia, arena's parent company, declined immediate comment.
Shares in Premiere were up 2.8 percent at 19.72 euros by 1014 GMT.
Premiere shares had slumped more than 8 percent in April when a deal, struck in February, which allowed Premiere to distribute and market arena's Bundesliga games via satellite was put on hold due to cartel concerns.
The accord called for Premiere to issue 16.4 million shares to UnityMedia, giving it a 16.7 percent stake. To save the deal the companies amended their cooperation model, addressing those concerns to receive the competition watchdog's nod.
Bernhard Heitzner, head of the cartel office, said cooperation between the two sole competitors was not ideal.
However, since the deal was restricted to two seasons the anti-trust authority had allowed it.
He expects to see more competition during the next auction for the rights to broadcast the 2009/2010 Bundesliga season, he added.
The cartel office also said UnityMedia's 16.7 percent stake in Premiere which it received in return for the rights would be reduced by the end of the 2008/2009 season, allowing the companies to operate in the market independently. The rights to show live Bundesliga matches are much sought after in a country where pay TV is a difficult business.
Viewers have more than 30 free programmes to choose from and are reluctant to pay extra.
Premiere lost the Bundesliga rights in 2005 to arena and struggled to find a way to continue to show Bundesliga soccer matches until it struck the deal with arena.
Last month Premiere's Chief Financial Officer, Michael Boernicke, said that while he expected the deal to go through it would take three to four quarters before Premiere returns to its 2005 level of 300 euros annual revenue per customer. Boernicke had said average revenue per user (ARPU), which Premiere has allowed to remain low while it focuses on attracting customers with more flexible tariffs, should start to rise again in the third quarter if the cartel office decided in its favour.
Regards Satdude. :thum:
Pay-TV broadcaster Premiere will get to broadcast live Bundesliga soccer games under a deal approved by cartel authorities just weeks before premier-league action resumes in Germany.
Germany's cartel office will allow Premiere to sub-license broadcast rights to Bundesliga matches from rival arena, it said on Wednesday, sending Premiere shares higher. Arena will sub-licence the rights to Premiere for two seasons and in return show the premier-league matches via cable and satellite, the cartel office said in a statement.
The soccer season starts on Aug 10. Live soccer matches are Premiere's main draw.
Premiere and UnityMedia, arena's parent company, declined immediate comment.
Shares in Premiere were up 2.8 percent at 19.72 euros by 1014 GMT.
Premiere shares had slumped more than 8 percent in April when a deal, struck in February, which allowed Premiere to distribute and market arena's Bundesliga games via satellite was put on hold due to cartel concerns.
The accord called for Premiere to issue 16.4 million shares to UnityMedia, giving it a 16.7 percent stake. To save the deal the companies amended their cooperation model, addressing those concerns to receive the competition watchdog's nod.
Bernhard Heitzner, head of the cartel office, said cooperation between the two sole competitors was not ideal.
However, since the deal was restricted to two seasons the anti-trust authority had allowed it.
He expects to see more competition during the next auction for the rights to broadcast the 2009/2010 Bundesliga season, he added.
The cartel office also said UnityMedia's 16.7 percent stake in Premiere which it received in return for the rights would be reduced by the end of the 2008/2009 season, allowing the companies to operate in the market independently. The rights to show live Bundesliga matches are much sought after in a country where pay TV is a difficult business.
Viewers have more than 30 free programmes to choose from and are reluctant to pay extra.
Premiere lost the Bundesliga rights in 2005 to arena and struggled to find a way to continue to show Bundesliga soccer matches until it struck the deal with arena.
Last month Premiere's Chief Financial Officer, Michael Boernicke, said that while he expected the deal to go through it would take three to four quarters before Premiere returns to its 2005 level of 300 euros annual revenue per customer. Boernicke had said average revenue per user (ARPU), which Premiere has allowed to remain low while it focuses on attracting customers with more flexible tariffs, should start to rise again in the third quarter if the cartel office decided in its favour.
Regards Satdude. :thum: