Bundeskartellamt prohibits participation of Radio TON-Regional in Lokalradio Services (radio advertising market in the Tübingen / Reutlingen / Zollern-Alb area)
27.04.2004
The Bundeskartellamt in Bonn has prohibited the planned acquisition of shares in Lokalradio Services GmbH, Reutlingen by Radio TON-Regional Hörfunk GmbH & Co. KG, Heilbronn. The merger would have meant that the two only competitors in the local market for radio advertising would in future have been controlled by the same company, Medien Union GmbH, Ludwigshafen.
Lokalradio Services operates a local radio station in the rural districts of Tübingen, Reutlingen and the Zollern-Alb area on the basis of a licence from the Baden-Württemberg Institution for Communication. The relevant market is local and regional radio advertising in this transmission area. The only competitor active in this market is Antenne Radio GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart. With the regional feature programme produced by the Reutlingen Studio of the radio channel “Hit Radio Antenne 1” this regional broadcaster offers a largely comparable platform for radio advertising. Antenne Radio is indirectly controlled by Südwestdeutsche Medien Holding GmbH (SWMH), Stuttgart. In turn SWMH is jointly controlled by Medien Union GmbH, Ludwigshafen, which also has indirect control of the acquiring company Radio TON-Regional. Medien Union would consequently have had a dominant position in the market for local and regional radio advertising in the Tübingen / Reutlingen / Zollern-Alb region. The planned acquisition was thus to be prohibited.
The President of the Bundeskartellamt, Dr Böge, stated: “The case shows that merger control is not just about protecting competition on larger but also on smaller regional and local markets. This is not only in the interest of the opposite side of the market, mainly the smaller advertising customers in the region in this particular case but is ultimately always for the benefit of the consumer.”
The companies can file an appeal against the Bundeskartellamt’s decision at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.