Tele 5 facing record fine
February 8, 2013
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Mediaset-owned TV channel Tele 5 will have to pay a €15.6 million fine imposed by the competition watchdog CNC for a serious violation of the conditions imposed in 2010 over its merger with Cuatro.
The CNC has determined that Mediaset did not comply with the obligation of separating the two advertising companies Publiespaña and Publimedia – as the company has members in both board of directors – incurring in a serious breach fined with up to 10 per cent of its total revenues.
CNC also found that Mediaset included abusive clauses in contracts for the acquisition of content.
Mediaset has confirmed that it will appeal against the record-imposed fine.
The company will also have to face a €3.6 million fine following the Spanish Court Audiencia Nacional’s ruling that the fine imposed by the competition authority CNC over the merger Tele 5-Cuatro should stand. This latter fine was imposed by CNC after Tele 5 failed to meet a deadline to hand in to the competition watchdog a detailed report about the merger operation with Cuatro.