Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset said that it would appeal after being fined more than €50M ($56.5M) by Italy's antitrust authority for "breaching competition laws" during the '14 sale of football TV rights, according to Jewkes & Segreti of REUTERS. The competition watchdog fined the Milan-based broadcaster €51.4M ($58M), while Sky Italia, whose "largest shareholder is media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox," was fined €4M ($4.5M). The two broadcasters "were accused of creating a cartel to carve up the rights to show matches of the top eight Italian teams" in the '15-18 seasons, "squeezing out competitors." Mediaset said that it was "shocked at the decision and would appeal, asking for an urgent suspension." Berlusconi also owns Serie A side AC Milan. Sky acknowledged the regulator's ruling. The watchdog had recognized Sky "was not the instigator of any anti-competitive agreement." The auction of the TV rights for Serie A, worth nearly €1B ($1.13B) a season, "had been delayed due to protests from rival bidders about the lack of transparency" (REUTERS, 4/21). ANSA reported Fininvest President Marina Berlusconi, the eldest daughter of Silvio Berlusconi, described the "hefty fine issued by Italian antitrust authorities" against Mediaset as "unbelievable." She said, "I find the provision unbelievable and unjustly punitive. It is (unbelievable and punishing) for a company that has had the courage to invest, that has created value, that has broken a monopoly, that has created an alternative for the public and for fans that wouldn't have otherwise existed" (ANSA, 4/21).
