The FCC sought more information from Comcast and NBC Universal on the...
The FCC sought more information from Comcast and NBC Universal on the cable operator’s planned purchase of control in the cable and broadcast programmer, for a second time as the agency reviews the multibillion-dollar deal. Both companies were asked on…
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Monday by Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake to provide the additional information by Oct. 18. Both companies were asked to provide the regulator with programming deals they signed with AT&T, Dish Network, DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, Verizon and other companies. Information sought from NBC Universal included how much ad revenue there was each year from 2005 on for the average subscriber for programming networks in which it has a stake. Information also was sought on its business with Sezmi. This request -- unlike past FCC requests for information from Comcast and NBC Universal -- won’t pause the 180-day clock during which the regulator aims to approve or deny all deals before it, a bureau spokeswoman said. The clock stood at day 129 on Monday. The administration should give close regulatory attention to Comcast-NBC Universal, said a group of business rivals and opponents to the deal. Some have asked the FCC to impose curbs. “We urge your administration to ensure this unprecedented combination receives the scrutiny that it deserves,” the Coalition for Competition in Media wrote President Barack Obama on Monday. “In an effort to secure quick approval for the acquisition, Comcast has unleashed a campaign unlike Washington has ever seen, spending tens of millions in lobbying, campaign donations and charitable donations,” the group said. “Despite Comcast’s effort to create an aura of inevitability,” the FCC and Justice Department “must have the time they need to conduct a deliberate, thorough review of this important merger.” The deal already is “the most thoroughly reviewed merger in media history -- with one of the longest FCC comment periods and the most congressional hearings, six, of any similar transaction,” a Comcast spokeswoman said. “For a lobbying coalition funded by our competitors to imply the review of this transaction has not been deliberate and thorough is insulting to the Congress, the FCC, and the Department of Justice."