Media in uproar as Telenet takes stake in De Vijver

Multimedia service provider Telenet sent a shock-wave through the Flemish media world yesterday by announcing the acquisition of a 50% stake in De Vijver Media, the holding company that owns TV stations VIER and VIJF. Telenet bought out magazine publisher Sanoma for €26 million and invested a further €32 million to bring its stake up to 50%.

The remainder of De Vijver’s shares are owned by the partnership of CEO Wouter Vandenhaute and Erik Watté on 25%, and Corelio, publishers of De Standaard and Flanders Today, also on 25%.

The acquisition would allow the two channels and independent production house Woestijnvis “renewed oxygen to develop their strategy further” and provide the Flemish audio-visual sector with new technological opportunities, the company said in a statement.

“Our share in this extremely creative company is a new step for us in the creation of local content, in partnership with a strong broadcast group,” commented Telenet CEO John Porter (pictured). “Our goal is to provide the Flemish viewer with the best and most modern multimedia entertainment possible.”

Elsewhere, the move was met with less enthusiasm. The Flemish media regulator has expressed misgivings about the deal, while acting media minister Ingrid Lieten repeated her hope that all broadcasters would be treated the same way by Telenet in allowing access to cable, now that the company has become a competitor.

“We have an exceptional situation in Flanders: an excellent public broadcaster and fantastic private broadcasters,” Lieten said. “The Flemish viewer is spoiled, but we ought to try to maintain that situation. The survival of our broadcasters has to be ensured, but we also need the distributors, and they have to treat all broadcasters the same.”

As a distributor of cable content, Telenet enjoys a virtual monopoly in Flanders. The new position is part of Telenet’s strategy to compete against new services like Netflix, due to arrive in Belgium soon. That dominant position was the cause of “great concern” over at Medialaan, the company that owns VTM and 2BE, the two other main private channels next to VIER and VIJF.

“Telenet is becoming judge and jury in a market where, as a TV distributor, it not only had complete control over which channels and programmes the Flemish viewer was allowed to see. Now, as owner of De Vijver Media, the company also has the possibility to give preference to its own channels and content,” said CEO Peter Bossaert.

The deal excludes the weekly magazine Humo, which becomes the 100% property of Sanoma, a Finnish company at present busy trying to divest itself of its other Belgian titles. “Telenet is for strategic reasons not interested in Humo,” Vandenhaute said. “It doesn’t fit in with their plans, but that’s not a judgment on the quality of the magazine.”