E/12/001

Date: 17 January 2012

Description

TV3 complained to the Competition Authority that RTÉ's "share deal" was anti-competitive.  The share deal is a scheme used by RTÉ to sell airtime to advertisers.  One element of the scheme offers advertisers discounts based on the share of their television advertising budget which they commit to RTÉ.

The Competition Authority investigated the complaint and had concerns that the share deal could be in breach of Irish and European competition law.  During the investigation, RTÉ proposed changes to the share deal and have given undertakings to the Authority to change the scheme with effect from July 2012.  The Authority is satisfied that the undertakings address its concerns.