Polsat files complaint against TVP over unfair advertising sales practices

Private TV station Polsat has filed a complaint with the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), accusing national public television network Telewizja Polska (TVP) of abusing its dominant position on the market. According to Polsat, TVP has violated anti-monopoly regulations by offering "strikingly lower prices" for broadcasting commercials. In an immediate response to the complaint, the office launched an investigation on Thursday. It is possible that it will order TVP to publish details of the contracts it has drawn up with its media and advertising agency clients. According to Jozef Birka, a member of the Polsat board of directors, TVP offers significant discounts to advertising agency ODM Poland, its leading client, which brings down prices across the whole market. In a report last year, the National Radio and Television Council (KRRiTV) accused TVP of offering discounts, some of over 50%, to its advertising clients. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 29) J.K.