New Zealand Radio Network cleared to buy Radio New Zealand commercial stations
Published23 Feb 1996
The Commerce Commission today cleared New Zealand Radio Network Ltd (NZRN) to acquire all the assets or shares of The Radio Company Ltd (RCL), which owns Radio New Zealand's commercial stations.
The Government has not yet made a final decision about which of the short-listed bids for RCL will be accepted.
Commission Chairman Dr Alan Bollard said the proposed acquisition would not lead to NZRN acquiring a dominant position in any market.
The Commission considered the proposal's impact on four markets: radio advertising, radio news information and entertainment, newspaper advertising, and newspaper news, information and entertainment.
NZRN is owned by newspaper publishers Wilson and Horton and by Australian Radio Network Pty Ltd. It currently has no radio interests in New Zealand. RCL is owned by the Crown and has no interests other than those associated with its radio operations.
"The proposal would not result in aggregation in any market," Dr Bollard said. "Furthermore, while NZRN would own 41 commercial radio stations, another 116 would still be operated by other companies."
The Commission also considered the likely impact of cross media ownership nationally and in 19 geographical regions.
"We consider that effective competition would continue to be provided to varying degrees in all areas from a wide range of other companies," Dr Bollard said.
These included INL owned newspapers, national weekly newspapers, private radio stations, magazines, national, regional and pay television, and, increasingly, other information sources like the Internet.
Also, entry barriers into publishing community newspapers and radio broadcasting are low.
Background
The Commerce Act prohibits business acquisitions which lead to dominance being acquired or strengthened in any market.
Parties can apply to the Commission for a clearance, which will be granted if the Commission is satisfied that dominance is not acquired or strengthened.
Media contact:Communications Officer Vincent Cholewa
