The Competition Commission has referred\u00a0the SABC, Primedia and Ster-Kinekor to the Competition Tribunal for cartel conduct.<\/p>\n
In a statement released on Sunday (27 January), the commission said that the three media companies admitted to being involved in price fixing and the fixing of trading conditions in contravention of the Competition Act.<\/p>\n
The case relates to a 2011 investigation which found that, through the Media Credit Co-Ordinators (MCC), various media companies agreed to offer similar discounts and payment terms to advertising agencies that place advertisements with MCC members.<\/p>\n
MCC accredited agencies were offered a 16.5% discount for payments made within 45 days of the statement date, while non-members were offered 15%.<\/p>\n
In addition, the commission\u2019s\u00a0investigation found that the implicated companies, as MCC members, employed services of an intermediary company called Corex to perform risk assessments on advertising agencies for purposes of imposing a settlement discount structure and terms on advertising agencies.<\/p>\n
In terms of the settlement agreements, the media companies have undertaken to:<\/p>\n
SABC<\/strong><\/p>\n The SABC will pay\u00a0R31,845,795<\/strong>\u00a0and provide 25% bonus advertising space for every rand of advertising space bought by qualifying small agencies, over three years and capped at R40 million<\/strong> annually.<\/p>\n They will further contribute R17,797,645<\/strong> to the Economic Development Fund (EDF) over a three year period.<\/p>\n Primedia<\/strong><\/p>\n Primedia has agreed to pay an administrative penalty of R9,605,884<\/strong><\/p>\n It will also provide 25% bonus advertising space for every rand of advertising space bought by qualifying small agencies, over three years and capped at R24 million annually, amounting to R72 million<\/strong> in three years.<\/p>\n The company will also contribute R3,458,118<\/strong>\u00a0 to the Economic Development Fund over a three year period.<\/p>\n Ster-Kinekor<\/strong><\/p>\n Ster-Kinekor has agreed to pay a fine of R436,999<\/strong>. It will also provide 25% bonus advertising space for every rand of advertising space bought by qualifying small agencies, over three years and capped at R 1 million annually, totalling R3 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n