The Competition Commission has delayed the publishing of its report on how digital channels are affecting traditional media platforms and advertising revenues, following a month of public hearings in March.
On Thursday, the body, which investigates market structures and antitrust matters, said the provisional report had been extended to early 2025. This decision “was made to ensure the provisional report meets the highest accuracy, thoroughness and credibility standards”, it said.
The authority has also received additional submissions since the initial hearings.
The Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI), initiated in October 2023, was designed to examine the effects of digital platforms such as X, Facebook and Google on the distribution and monetisation of media content, and whether they had anticompetitive or harmful practices that needed to be addressed.
The commission said it had “reason to believe that there are market features on digital platforms that distribute news media content that impede, distort or restrict competition, or undermine the purposes of the [Competition] Act and which have material implications for the news media sector of SA”.
The commission invited more than 50 potential stakeholders. Just more than 40 — including mainstream and community media, broadcasters, associations, think-tanks, social media platforms and ad brokers — participated in the sessions.
At the time, controversially, X was the only major global platform that declined to join the discussion, citing legal reasons.
The watchdog said the revised timeline for the report “reflects the inquiry’s dedication to addressing critical factors essential to the report’s quality”.
These included the following: Further consultations with experts were conducted to resolve emerging questions and address unresolved issues; a substantial number of submissions were received containing complex information such as in advertising technology (adtech) and AI, each requiring a detailed analysis to ensure accuracy; and expert contributions required specialised scrutiny to ensure accurate interpretation into the report. The high level of technical detail in these submissions necessitated additional time for comprehensive evaluation.
Estimates by the Wits journalism department show internet giants, including Facebook and Google, have taken as much as 60% of local advertising revenue over the past decade.
In recent years, a number of media houses have announced retrenchments as they streamline their operations to cope with the loss of advertising revenue, particularly for legacy businesses. This has resulted in media professionals losing their jobs, as well as companies such as Associated Media Publishing, which ran titles such as Cosmopolitan, shutting their doors.
Earlier in 2024, Naspers-owned Media24 announced a strategic shift that put 400 jobs at risk as it sought to close the print editions of five newspapers, transitioning three of them into digital-only brands.
In September, Daily Maverick became the latest casualty when it announced it would begin a cost-reduction exercise, aiming to cut about 15% of operating costs.
In the same month, Independent Media — owners of publications such as The Star, Cape Times and Isolezwe — announced retrenchments, citing substantially the same reasons as Daily Maverick about an unsustainable media industry.
Much of this has been attributed to the shift in the consumption of digital news sources as a result of smartphones and more affordable access to the internet.
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