Competition Tribunal hears allegations of MultiChoice abusing market

A SIZEABLE number of SABC viewers who watched their programmes on the OpenView platform were excluded from watching the Rugby World Cup 2023 final due to MultiChoice’s market dominance and its decision to block OpenView from broadcasting it.

This was the argument presented yesterday to the Competition Tribunal by eMedia Investment, owner of OpenView.

As a result of this event, and looming changes in the market with the switch from analogue public broadcasting to digital expected this year, Hosken Consolidated Investments subsidiary eMedia Investment, owner of OpenView, went to competition authorities to seek relief against DStv operator MultiChoice SA Holdings, and the SABC.

As with 90% of all major sport events, MultiChoice had acquired the pay-to-air and free-to-air television rights for the matches, and it sub-licensed the major games to the SABC, with a proviso that the SABC did not provide the content to the OpenView free-to-air platform, with whom the SABC also had a sub-agreement.

In a hearing yesterday morning, it emerged that some 20-25% of the SABC’s viewers watched the public broadcaster’s programmes on the OpenView platform.

Gavin Marriott, appearing for eMedia, said from a competition point of view, MultiChoice’s agreement with the SABC muzzled the SABC’s business with OpenView, which was MultiChoice’s only real satellite-based competitor in this country.

This curb on both the SABC and

OpenView’s ability to trade would also continue into the future where the switch from analogue broadcasting meant that DStv and OpenView were likely to be the only two viable satellite digital television operators.

He said contrary to MultiChoice’s claim that OpenView was wishing to secure a “free ride”, the restraint that MultiChoice had imposed on the SABC with regard to OpenView was essentially to “humiliate” OpenView in the eyes of its viewers.

He also said that MultiChoice’s view that OpenView viewers could simply have watched the content elsewhere was spurious, as the viewers had signed up and invested in a set top box for OpenView with the knowledge they could view SABC content.

MultiChoice denied the allegations. The hearing continued yesterday afternoon.