by Thinus Ferreira
eMedia, already embroiled in a e.tv channels carriage fight with MultiChoice at the Competition Commission, has now also lodged a new case with the commission in its ongoing TV sports rights fight with the pay-TV operator.
eMedia's new Competition Commission case comes after the Gauteng High Court last week scrapped eMedia's urgent application from the roll after eMedia demanded to show the 2023 Rugby World Cup matches for free through the SABC TV channels it carries on its Openview satellite TV service.
With the help of sponsors, the SABC paid R57 million to MultiChoice to sublicence 16 matches of the 2023 Rugby World Cup from SuperSport.
MultiChoice and SuperSport in its sublicensing agreement, blocks the SABC from showing these 16 matches on the version of SABC2 carried on eMedia's Openview.
Neither the SABC nor eMedia and Openview made any bid for the direct TV sports rights in 2018 for the 2023 Rugby World Cup from the primary rights holder, RWCL in Dublin, Ireland. That forced the SABC last month to acquire the rights from SuperSport through a sublicensing contract.
eMedia argues that there shouldn't be a "SABC2"-version from the SABC that is free-to-air on digital terrestrial television (DTT), SABC+, on DStv and StarSat, and then a separate "SABC2"-version just for Openview that shows filler content when the "real" SABC2" shows Rugby World Cup matches.
Marc Jury, MultiChoice South Africa CEO, slammed eMedia last week, saying eMedia is involved in a "classic case of free-riding" and that "eMedia wants to broadcast the matches to their Openview customers without paying a cent to do so".
After its urgent court application was tossed last week, eMedia on Tuesday announced that "We have lodged a complaint with the Competition Commission and we have filed papers before the Competition Tribunal in respect of the provision in the sublicensing agreements concluded between MultiChoice and the SABC that prevent the SABC from utilising third-party platforms to transmit SABC channels that broadcast national sporting events".
eMedia says "MultiChoice’s conduct in this regard is particularly shocking because it has sublicensed these rights to the SABC, and accordingly, the SABC should not be prevented from utilising whichever platforms it selects to broadcast programming to the broader public".
"We believe that it is in the national interest that these issues are dealt with as soon as possible and that there are no undue delays in the merits of these matters being ventilated fully."
"National sporting events are part of our nation-building process, and accordingly, MultiChoice’s tactics and behaviour which are simply designed to entrench its dominant position in the television broadcasting sector in South Africa at the expense of the broader public in order to harm its competitors should not be countenanced."
In another long-delayed and yet somewhat similar case before the Competition Commission, the SABC had also taken MultiChoice to the commission alleging anti-competitive behaviour by SuperSport when it comes to the acquisition of sports rights and the sublicensing of sports rights.
This means that both the SABC and e.tv now have cases at the Competition Commission against MultiChoice and SpuerSport in regards to the licensing of TV sports rights in South Africa.
An in another drawn-out case before the Competition Commission, e.tv is fighting to keep its other e.tv channel packaged TV channels on MultiChoice's DStv, after MultiChoice said it no longer wants the eExtra, eToonz, eMovies or eMovies Extra channels on its platform after channel carriage extension negotiations broke down.
These e.tv channels remain on DStv after yet another extension that was granted by the Competition Tribunal, while the body must still decide "whether a further extension of interim relief can be legally justified".
This means that e.tv now has two cases at the Competition Commission against MultiChoice - one about general entertainment TV channel carriage, and one over sports rights sublicensing agreements for public television.
