Black, Hispanic Congressional Caucuses Question Comcast-NBC merger

Forty-Six members of Congress — including many from the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses — recently called on the FCC to hold public hearings on Comcast's bid to purchase NBC Universal.

Speed Matters, the Communications Workers of America and an ad hoc coalition of other organizations are all concerned that the proposed merger would give Comcast-NBC unprecedented control over the creation and distribution of video content over all media platforms-online, cable, and broadcast.

Currently, NBC Universal has partial ownership of Hulu-an online video streaming website. A Comcast purchase of NBC would threaten online video. Under Comcast's "TV Everywhere" model, Comcast would move NBC Universal movies and TV shows behind an online paywall, available only to broadband subscribers.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) recently sent a letter on behalf of the concerned members of Congress to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski urging the Commission gain satisfactory answers to a series of merger-related questions:

These questions include a detailed analysis of the companies' employment of women and minorities in executive leadership, management positions, and contracting opportunities. We also need to understand what Comcast and NBC have done together to foster creative freedom and diversity in media programming, distributions and ownership.

The letter also asks the FCC to ensure that public hearings provide an open dialogue on how the merger will affect content availability in local communities, particularly low-income and minority areas.

While Comcast and NBC Universal parent General Electric have hoped to complete their $30 billion deal by this fall, additional hearings could further delay approval.

Black, Hispanic Congressmen Question Comcast/NBCU Diversity (The Wrap)

Comcast and NBC - No way! (Speed Matters)

FCC extends Comcast-NBC merger comment period as it awaits documents (Speed Matters)