Blumenthal, Other Senators Urge DOJ Antitrust Review of Comcast/Fox Proposal
Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and three other senators urged the DOJ Antitrust Division Wednesday to review Comcast's bid for Fox's nonbroadcast assets to consider whether “the heightened risk of consumer harms” of the proposal is…
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“exacerbated by [Comcast's] history of practices after its acquisition of NBCUniversal and its unique market position.” Fox's board voted last month to accept Disney's revised offer for the assets instead in part because Comcast/Fox "would be subject to a greater degree of regulatory uncertainty, including the possibility of an outright prohibition and a higher risk of divestitures and delay to closing, as compared to a strategic transaction with Disney” (see 1806200015 and 1806260038). DOJ already said it would allow Disney/Fox if Disney divests 22 Fox regional sports networks (see 1806270032). “In addition to horizontal concerns over local stations and regional sports programming, further consolidation that enhances and reinforces Comcast’s vertically integrated status as both a distributor and creator of media poses unique challenges, especially given that the merger would provide a majority stake in the streaming service Hulu,” Blumenthal and the other senators said in a letter to DOJ Antitrust head Makan Delrahim. Also signing the letter were Ed Markey, D-Mass.; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. “The need to protect consumers from the harmful effects of the proposed merger is evident in the numerous settlements with Comcast regarding past anticompetitive practices, such as the use of channel listings to prioritize its content over that of outside competitors and overbilling of customers,” the senators said. DOJ didn't comment. Meanwhile, Comcast raised its bid for Sky, which Fox owns much of (see 1807120001), while the U.S. programmer got the U.K. nod to buy the rest of the satellite-TV provider.