The Commerce Commission seems likely to make a quick decision on whether the NZME and Fairfax merger can proceed as it identifies several issues it will investigate.
In a statement of preliminary issues released on its website, the commission said it expected to make a decision by August 22, although the date might change.
Submissions must be in to the commission by July 1.
The applicants submitted they would continue to face strong competition for readership from several different parties, including TVNZ, Mediaworks, Radio New Zealand, blogs and overseas content creators such as The New York Times and The Guardian.
The commission would assess the extent to which websites competed with merging parties for readers and the extent to which media companies were able to offer comparable content to New Zealand-based parties.
There had been movement among media companies, both internationally and within New Zealand, towards the introduction of charges for readers to access online content, known as a paywall.
The regulator said it would assess whether the merged entity would have the ability and incentive to introduce such a paywall and whether it would encourage other content providers to follow suit.
NZME and Fairfax also submitted even with the merger they would continue to face significant competition from Google and Facebook for the provision of print and online advertising services to advertisers. Also, the applicants said they faced constraint from outside the market from other advertising sources, such as TV, radio, billboard and cinema. That would be assessed, too.
The commission identified where the proposed merger might result in aggregation in five main areas. -
•Paid Sunday papers - between Fairfax's Sunday Star Times and Sunday News and NZME's Herald on Sunday;
•Paid metropolitan newspapers - between Fairfax's Dominion Post and NZME's Hawke's Bay Today and between NZME's The New Zealand Herald and Fairfax's Waikato Times.
•Free community publications.
•The supply of online advertising.
•The supply of digital news/information content between Fairfax's stuff.co.nz and NZME's nzherald.co.nz.
"We must identify what is likely to happen in the relevant markets if the proposed merger does not go ahead. The applicants have suggested the appropriate scenario without the merger is the status quo.''
The regulator also said it would consider the impact of the merged entity's increase stake in the online ad exchange KPEX, which was owned by Mediaworks and TVNZ, and whether the combined group would still grant independent publishers access to its printing services.
•The proposed merger of Sky Network Television (SkyTV) and Vodafone NZ is also likely to be considered by the commission in the same period.
