Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser - EBU / 1 EPRA Workshop Barcelona, 19 April 2001 Major Events on Television Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser European Broadcasting Union

Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser - EBU / 2 The legal and political landscape  The bad news: Fewer major events on free television  The good news: Art. 3(a) Television without Frontiers Directive Art. 9(a) Convention on Transfrontier Television  The "ugly" news: Risk of misguided interpretation and implementation

Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser - EBU / 3 Total viewing ratings (market shares) 1998 Football World Cup % Source: EBU 23.7 M20.6 M12 M24.3 M2.8 M20.2 M Audience size

Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser - EBU / 4 Common interests of sport and free TV  Social role of sport: Declaration of Nice (December 2000) EC Commission: Helsinki report (1999) / Council of Europe  "sport is one of the major socio-political platforms in the process of European integration"  Autonomy of sport: exemptions from competition law Limits on integration between clubs and media  (e.g. BSkyB/Manchester United case; UEFA rule on ownership) Collective selling of broadcasting rights  Possible exemption if main purposes are solidarity (sharing of income) and promotion of amateur and youth sport

Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser - EBU / 5 TV rights costs (football) million Euro European Championships Source: CSA/EBU * * not yet final

Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser - EBU / 6 TV rights costs (football) million Euro World Cup Source: CSA/EBU * not yet final * *

Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser - EBU / 7 Major events lists: What they are not  A compulsory copyright sublicence, >>but a regulation under media law  An application of competition law, >>but rules to meet the concerns and expectations of the TV audience  A news/information access rule, >>but measures to ensure the general public’s enjoyment of the events as such

Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser - EBU / 8 What should a major events list achieve?  Protection of the national citizen’s right to enjoy major events live or on a deferred basis, Art. 3(a)/Art. 9(a): "ensuring the public of the possibility of following the event via live or deferred coverage on freeTV" Recitals: "measures to protect the right to information and to ensure wide access by the public to TV coverage of national or non-national major events; (…) regulating the exercise by broadcasters of exclusive broadcasting rights to such events"  in compliance with EC law which includes, inter alia, EC competition law

Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser - EBU / 9 Practical consequences  Selection of events on national criteria  Traditional coverage, national participants, viewing rates …  (Nearly) universal coverage required  > 90-95%, as a "substantial proportion of audience" may not be deprived of viewing  Measures must ensure free-to-air coverage  Starting point: pay-TV is excluded, unless …  Offer to sell or (sub)license is insufficient, unless …  Conditions must be "fair and reasonable" >>>

Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser - EBU / 10 Fair and reasonable conditions  not merely for profit Sale, re-sale or licensing of rights merely for economic profit is contrary to the underlying purpose of regulation  non-discriminatory All qualified free-to-air television channels must be capable of meeting the terms set by the rightsowner  "normal" price level Reference period must be when competition between broadcasters did not involve pay-TV operators

Heijo Ruijsenaars Legal Adviser - EBU / 11 The "winner" should be the audience, not a broadcaster !