Weko suspects foul play by UPC against Swisscom for ice hockey games on TV

UPC could have a dominant position in the broadcasting of ice hockey games on pay-TV from the coming season and possibly abuse this position, the Weko announced in a communiqué on Tuesday. In particular, the Weko is investigating whether UPC is unjustifiably withholding ice hockey broadcasts from non-cable network competitors.

Swisscom had filed suit after UPC refused to allow Swisscom to broadcast ice hockey games. UPC had bought the broadcasting rights at auction last summer for five years. From the upcoming 2017/2018 season, UPC will broadcast the games of the Swiss ice hockey leagues via the new sports TV channel MySports.

Swisscom has been left out in the cold. UPC has only submitted the signal to the Swiss cable network operators. This means that 1.5 million Swisscom customers will be left out in the cold from next season.

Not the first Weko case

This is UPC's tit-for-tat response to Swisscom. Its subsidiary Teleclub previously held the rights to broadcast ice hockey games on pay TV. For years, it had given cable network competitors and other TV providers such as Sunrise access to ice hockey games, but only to a reduced extent. In addition, their customers had to pay more than for Swisscom TV.

In the Weko's view, Swisscom abused its dominant position in the past in the live broadcasting of Swiss soccer and ice hockey matches on pay TV. For this reason, the Weko imposed a fine of almost CHF 72 million on Swisscom in 2016. Swisscom rejects the accusations and has moved on from the ruling. It argues that it only wanted to protect its high investments by withholding certain games from the competition. Moreover, Swisscom subsidiary Teleclub had already made an offer to all Swiss TV platform providers last year to put on the full sports lineup. However, the cable network operators have so far refrained from making use of this offer.

The tables are turned

UPC has now turned the tables. The company does not want to offer Swisscom the auctioned rights under any circumstances. The cable network operator explained that MySports is intended to break Swisscom/Teleclub's long-standing monopoly in the sports sector. To this end, UPC is investing a large amount in the millions. To protect these investments, the MySports signal will not be passed on to Swisscom, it added. UPC has signed distribution agreements with more than a dozen TV providers to pass on MySports. Additional partners may be added in the future.

This is now being scrutinized by the Weko: Such exclusive agreements could create a dominant position that UPC could abuse in its favor, the competition watchdogs announced. This could hinder UPC's competitors. "We welcome the Weko's decision to open an investigation against UPC regarding the ice hockey broadcasts on pay TVIce hockey broadcasts on pay TV," Swisscom spokesman Sepp Huber said when asked: "We demand fair play from UPC and are fighting to ensure that our customers can continue to watch Swiss league ice hockey in the future."

In its ruling last year, the Weko required that everyone have equal access to sports services, Huber explained. "This requirement also applies to UPC for reasons of equal treatment."

UPC considers itself to be in the right

The situation today is not comparable to the past, UPC counters in a statement. Swisscom used to monopolize all sports content in Switzerland and used it in a discriminatory manner. UPC, on the other hand, only owns individual rights and treats all 14 distribution partners equally.

"We are therefore convinced that the investigation will be in our favor and that the exclusive transmission via the various cable networks will prove to be unproblematic," UPC announced.

Decision on precautionary measures soon

In its complaint, Swisscom had also demanded precautionary measures from the Weko so that it can already broadcast ice hockey games in the coming season and does not have to wait for the end of the investigation. A decision on precautionary measures will be made in the next few weeks, Weko Director Rafael Corazza said on request. (Johannes Brinkmann/SDA)