The Hungarian Competition Authority (Gazdasági Versenyhivatal, GVH) has initiated a competition supervision procedure concerning the advertising claims made by RTL+ Premium regarding its broadcasts of the UEFA Champions League. The authority suspects that the operators of the streaming service may have misled consumers, including their own subscribers, by implying that all matches of the 2024/2025 UEFA Champions League season would be broadcast live.

The investigation targets the operators of RTL+ Premium, namely CLT-UFA S.A., registered in Luxembourg, and Magyar RTL Televízió Zrt. The GVH's decision to commence the investigation was prompted by multiple consumer complaints regarding the service's promotional communications.

The national competition authority is examining specific commercial communications used by RTL+ Premium since June 2023 to promote its service packages. These include statements such as, “On RTL+ Premium, you decide which matches to watch from the new, even more exciting UEFA Champions League!” and “Follow live along with other matches,” suggesting that all matches would be available with Hungarian commentary and high-quality visuals.

The GVH suspects that the operators of RTL+ Premium engaged in misleading commercial practices with these statements and similar advertising messages. These communications may have created the impression among consumers that subscribing to RTL+ Premium would grant access to every match of the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 season, which is likely not the case in practice.

It is important to note that the initiation of the competition supervision procedure does not imply that the companies have committed a legal violation. The procedure aims to clarify the facts and potentially prove the alleged infringement. The investigation is set to last three months, with the possibility of extending it twice for up to two months each, if justified. The GVH emphasizes that the time taken for the client to provide necessary information for fact clarification does not count towards the administrative deadline.