The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would be looking beyond mere changes in media delivery technology to deeper issues in order to ensure competition was preserved, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.*
Radio was undergoing a 'somewhat quieter revolution' than the rest of the media, but it nevertheless had profound implications for what Australians listened to, how they listened to it and increasingly when they listened to it.
"New technology can be a powerful and positive force for change", Mr Samuel said. "It allows new entrants into markets that have previously been closed due to the limitations of old technology. It means more choice for consumers.
"The ACCC clearly has an important role in ensuring the availability of this new technology is not unduly hindered by the anti-competitive behaviour of incumbents who consider it a potential threat to their market position.
"It also means that media market boundaries may change over time. Some market borders may expand as firms formerly in different markets find themselves competing; some markets may become narrower.
"It may be that one day, traditional retail services such as individual newspapers, television stations and radio stations are no longer so critical. Rather, what may become more important is having content that people want to access; and having a variety of ways to deliver it to the customer across a communications network".
A key function for the ACCC was to help create the foundations for a highly competitive environment in all aspects of telecommunications.
"Increasingly, radio, video and TV services will be provided together with internet and traditional telephone services. Some content is so compelling to audiences, and thus so attractive to media companies and valuable to content owners, that it is subject to exclusive agreements.
"Such arrangements are not necessarily anti-competitive. Indeed, free-to-air broadcasters have traditionally competed heavily for exclusive rights to content as a means of differentiation amongst themselves, without raising competition concerns. It is critical therefore that no single network owner acquires exclusive rights to all that content and effectively locks out the potential competition".
Mr Samuel said that in its oversight of the media, the ACCC would seek to ensure that media proprietors cannot lessen competition or inhibit the emergence of new players or products by tying up access to compelling content.
For those with a passionate interest in the media and the way it is evolving, it was an exciting time, Mr Samuel said.
"No doubt many of the predictions we make now about the media's future will be debunked and replaced by technologies and trends we are yet to consider.
"But one thing is clear, and that is change is coming, whether we like it or not. Some of the incumbents will survive and prosper, others will struggle to adapt and find their commercial niche in this new environment.
"The ACCC will continue to monitor this evolution carefully, but will also be trying to look beyond the technology to the deeper issues of content, services to customers and ensuring new competitors are not locked out of competing by artificially imposed barriers to entry.
"The Trade Practices Act has been with us for some time now, but it remains a robust piece of law that has stood the test of time. I believe it will be a crucial tool at our disposal as we attempt to navigate our way down the new media highway".
*Mr Samuel was addressing the National Radio Conference 2006 on Radio's future in the new media landscape in Sydney. A delivery version of the speech is linked below.
