Information Circular to the Pay TV Industry in respect of MDA's Decision on Exemption from Obligations Under Paragraph 2.7 of the Media Market Conduct Code in Relation to Free Preview of Barclay Premier League Content

1. On 22 January 2016, MDA granted SingNet Pte Ltd ("SingNet") an exemption from its obligations under Paragraph 2.7 of the Media Market Conduct Code ("Code") to cross-carry the offering of free preview of BPL content to all subscribers on the Singtel TV platform from 5 February 2016 to 11 February 2016 ("CNY BPL Free Preview"). This industry circular sets out MDA's considerations in relation to the above.

2. On 26 January 2016, in view of technical reasons as submitted by SingNet to MDA, MDA granted SingNet an extension of the above exemption, so that the CNY BPL Free Preview would instead be offered from 5 February 2016 to 12 February 2016, 0400 hours.

MDA's considerations

3. In assessing SingNet's exemption application to offer the CNY BPL Free Preview, MDA considered that:

1. SingNet has not been regularly offering the BPL content as a free preview on the Singtel TV platform only, and the CNY BPL Free Preview is proposed to be offered on a one-off basis for a short period from 5 to 11 February 2016, with the broadcast of 10 "live" matches only;

2. SingNet will be opening up all Singtel TV channelsⁱ for free preview on the Singtel TV platform during the same period;

3. the free preview of all Singtel TV channels is accessible by all Singtel TV subscribers on the Singtel TV platform; and

4. free previews of all channels will provide consumers with an opportunity to review the content and make an informed decision as to whether to subscribe to packages that include the BPL content. This would allow SingNet to reap economies of scale, resulting in lower prices for all subscribers regardless of the platform they are using to access the BPL content.

4. After careful consideration of all the relevant factors in this case, MDA is of the view that the CNY BPL Free Preview proposed by SingNet is not intended to circumvent the objectives and effectiveness of the cross-carriage measure. MDA is therefore prepared to grant SingNet's exemption request in relation to the CNY BPL Free Preview on a very exceptional and one-off short-term basis and to allow SingNet to offer the CNY BPL Free Preview, subject to the following conditions:

1. SingNet shall not advertise or promote the CNY BPL Free Preview publicly except to its existing Singtel TV subscribers on the Singtel TV platform three days prior to the start of the CNY BPL Free Preview; and

2. in order to ensure that the offering of free previews of BPL content on the Singtel TV platform only is not used as a means to undermine the objectives and effectiveness of the cross-carriage measure, MDA will not approve any further free previews of BPL content to be shown during the remainder of the BPL 2015/2016 season on the Singtel TV platform only.

5. MDA would highlight that MDA's assessment of any free preview will be made on a case-by-case basis, and the fact that MDA has not raised any objection to the CNY BPL Free Preview shall not be taken as precedence, or create any form of legitimate expectation that MDA would approve any other free preview that may be submitted to MDA subsequently.

6. Any queries on this industry circular may be addressed to:




The Media Development Authority of Singapore

Attn: Ms Daphne Wong, Deputy Director (Competition Policy)

Email: daphne_wong@imda.gov.sg

   ⁱ Except for ftv.com, and all on-demand channels.