NBCU & Comcast Merger Faces Challenges

The Federal Communications Commission is raising further questions about the prospective merger of General Electric's NBC Universal and Comcast.

In its second inquiry since March 2010, the FCC asked both companies to provide details regarding advertising revenues, top advertisers though programming and online, as well as specific details of broadcast agreements. The inquiry also explores current cable carriage agreements for various NCBU and Comcast networks, as well as NBC and Telemundo broadcast stations.

By focusing on current asset distribution, the FCC is attempting to gauge the impact of the merger on smaller cable companies who could easily be disadvantaged in negotiations for cable channels.

Without proper regulation the online video market will be vulnerable to price fixing and other anti-competitive behavior that would edge out competing aggregators of online video.

In a move to give greater voice to this concern, the Coalition of Competition in Media wrote an open letter to President Obama, urging him to give greater scrutiny to the issue and criticizing the way NBCU and Comcast have led the campaign.

Without question, this combination of content and distribution would give the combined company unprecedented power nationally and in local media markets around the country, affecting TV viewers and Internet users everywhere, and, importantly, it comes before your administration at a critical time in the development between cable and Internet content.

The Communications Workers of America and Speed Matters supports the rights of the consumer and sees a need for greater attention to the Comcast-NBCU merger. By imposing fair conditions on the merger, the FCC can limit forces that would disrupt the competitiveness of the market.

FCC Second Request for Information Sent to NBC Universal, Inc (FCC Media Bureau)

FCC Second Request for Information Sent to Comcast Corporation (FCC Media Bureau)

Letter to President Barack Obama (The Coalition for Competition in Media)

Testimony of Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America - Competition in the Media and Entertainment Distribution Market (House Judiciary Committee)

Petition to Deny or in the Alternative Impose Conditions (Communications Workers of America)