ACA, Clyburn Decry Expiration of FCC Conditions on Comcast/NBCU
The expiration Saturday of the FCC's conditions on Comcast's buy of NBCUniversal was criticized by the American Cable Association and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. ACA in a statement Monday said the FCC "should examine and then address" harms Comcast/NBCU might cause…
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by strengthening program access rules, such as deciding whether an arbitration remedy and standstill condition should be codified. It said the agency should amend program access rules so the National Cable Television Cooperative qualifies as a buying group. Clyburn's Friday tweet said with the DOJ opposing AT&T's proposed buy of Time Warner on the same grounds that prompted the FCC to put conditions on Comcast/NBCU, "has anything really changed?" Comcast didn't comment on the tweet or ACA's comments, but in a statement said it "met or exceeded all of the commitments and obligations," and none of its six annual compliance reports was challenged by the FCC, members of Congress or third parties. It said all markets in which it operates "are more robust and more competitive now than they were” before the deal. Comcast said it doesn't anticipate any operational changes due to the conditions' expiration. It disputed conditions in AT&T/TW are analogous to Comcast/NBCU, since it doesn't have a national distribution network like AT&T's DirecTV or its wireless network, and it doesn't operate cable or broadband services in the nation's two biggest markets, New York City and Los Angeles. Experts said it's unlikely regulators would extend the Comcast/NBCU conditions or that DOJ would revisit the issue (see 1712210018).