Congress Urges Limits as FCC Ramp Up Comcast-NBC Deal Review

Sen. Herb Kohl, (D-WI) Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, told the Department of Justice and the FCC to enforce eleven conditions on Comcast's pending merger with NBC Universal, citing the merger's potential to increase prices and limit content diversity across several media platforms.

Sen. Kohl joins the chorus of legislators calling for the Obama administration to exercise its antitrust authority and protect consumers from the uncompetitive conduct and market power abuses that could potentially arise from the Comcast-NBC Universal deal.

An array of legislators and public interest groups — including the CWA — assert that the merger is an antitrust violation, will drive up prices, and provide fewer content choices for consumers. President Obama has previously announced his strong support for "diversity of ownership" and "protection against the excessive concentration of power in the hands of any one corporation, interest or small group."

The Communications Workers of America have joined forces with two of the nation's top consumer advocacy groups to bring attention to the reasons that the Comcast-NBC Universal merger should be stopped.

As part of its regulatory review, the FCC sent detailed questions to Comcast and NBC Universal about their proposed merger. Both companies must submit their response to the FCC by June 11.

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