Competition Commission sets out terms for Red Bee investigation

The UK Competition Commission has set out the terms of its investigation into the acquisition of Red Bee Media by Ericsson, with a final report expected by March 16 next year. 

The regulator will focus on the supply of outsourced linear playout services as it investigates the competition impact of the acquisition. Red Bee supplies linear playout services to BBC, Channel 4, UKTV, BT Sport, Public Broadcasting Service, Japanese Satellite TV and Box TV.

The Commission will investigate whether the acquisition will have an impact on competition and whether competitive conditions will differ according to the nature of a customer’s requirements, including reactivity and intervention levels required, quality of service standards and the scale and level of risk.

The Commission will also look at how the competitive situation is likely to evolve without a merger and whether the proposed merger could lead to price rises and degradation of quality of service.