Many of the 122 questions total the FCC posed to Comcast and NBC Universal on their deal to combine broadcast, cable and online programming assets signal a keen interest by the agency and Chairman Julius Genachowski in Internet video, experts observing the review said. The queries, many with sub-questions, were released by the commission Friday afternoon. They cover VOD, online video distribution, set-top boxes and Internet video that can be seen using the devices. Queries on carriage deals show an interest in program access, industry lawyers who reviewed the data requests said.
Many of the 122 questions total the FCC posed to Comcast and NBC Universal on their deal to combine broadcast, cable and online programming assets signal a keen interest by the agency and Chairman Julius Genachowski in Internet video, experts observing the review said. The queries, many with sub-questions, were released by the commission Friday afternoon (CD May 24 p13). They cover VOD, online video distribution, set-top boxes and Internet video that can be seen using the devices. Queries on carriage deals show an interest in program access, industry lawyers who reviewed the data requests said.
The FCC’s merger clock on Comcast-NBC Universal resumes ticking June 3, footnote 12 of the Media Bureau public notice released late Wednesday said. The clock on Comcast’s plan to buy control of NBC Universal will remain paused at day 29 until then, said the notice at http://xrl.us/bhkbbi. The commission reset its comment deadlines after the companies filed two economic studies (CD May 6 p3).
The perceived industry impact on proposed FCC reclassification of broadband transport as a common carrier service subject to six sections of the Communications Act may fall most heavily on cable operators, investor interviews and stock prices Thursday show. Cable operators largely aren’t regulated under Title II and putting their broadband services under it means the companies will be more heavily regulated, some investors and analysts said. Telcos have always had wireline operations subject to Title II, though their financial outlook is also affected by regulatory uncertainty, analysts and industry officials said.
The FCC restarted its 180-day clock on review of Comcast’s agreement to buy control of NBC Universal after the companies on Tuesday submitted economic studies requested by commission staff. In pausing the clock at 29 days elapsed last month (CD April 19 p1), the Media Bureau said it would restart after the studies, on the stated benefits of the deal and its impact on online video competition, were filed. A bureau public notice Wednesday afternoon set new deadlines for opposition to the deal and other comments.
The FCC restarted its 180-day clock on review of Comcast’s agreement to buy control of NBC Universal after the companies on Tuesday submitted economic studies requested by commission staff. In pausing the clock at 29 days elapsed last month (WID April 19 p4), the Media Bureau said it would restart after the studies, on the stated benefits of the deal and its impact on online video competition, were filed. A bureau public notice Wednesday afternoon set new deadlines for opposition to the deal and other comments.
The FCC is expected to hire an outsider to oversee review of Comcast’s planned buy of NBC Universal to augment existing staff efforts of what many inside and outside the commission see as a unique deal because of the combination of broadband and cable with broadcast properties, agency and industry officials said. The move would be unusual in that most major transactions before the regulator are solely reviewed by long-time officials, though not unprecedented because of this commission’s hiring of outsiders for various roles. The regulator has looked at hiring existing employees and people outside the agency for the new role, FCC and industry officials said. It decided to hire an external candidate, an agency official said. We couldn’t learn the person’s name. This commission has used outsiders to work on the National Broadband Plan, most notably Blair Levin, who led that work. The new hire likely will lead a steering committee of bureau chiefs and other high-ranking staffers that in turn oversees the commission’s transactional review team for the deal, FCC and industry officials said. That a steering committee is coordinating work by the transaction review team -- consisting of staffers from the Media Bureau and other bureaus and offices -- has been said to be unique to the deal. Every major deal before the commission is reviewed by a transaction team, which continues its work on this deal even though the FCC last month paused its merger review clock as staffers await a study on online video competition and one on the perceived benefits of the deal which they requested from Comcast, NBC Universal and NBCU parent General Electric, commission officials said. A Media Bureau spokeswoman declined to comment. The forthcoming hire will likely become a full-time commission staffer but the particular position likely will end once review of the Comcast-NBC Universal is finished, FCC and industry officials said. Being a full-time employee will give the staffer more credibility with commissioners, said a communications industry attorney who helps arrange media deals but isn’t involved with Comcast-NBC Universal. “They seem to be making preparations for a big fight -- this seems to be the right call” to handle a “hot potato of a deal,” he said. The forthcoming hire comes as FCC staffers are “extraordinarily stretched with all the things that are going on now,” including execution of the broadband plan and looking at how to proceed with net neutrality after the Comcast case, said Professor James Speta of Northwestern University, who teaches antitrust law. “It’s not surprising to me the commission would decide this transaction needs a lot of resources devoted to it. The fact they're bringing in someone from outside strikes me as a little unusual, but not terribly unusual. There are a number of academics who at any time are engaged as special consultants on a variety of matters, be they engineering or economic or legal matters.” Dale Hatfield, now at the University of Colorado, was a special supervisor of conditions on AOL-Time Warner after that deal was approved by the FTC, noted Speta, who filed in support of Comcast in its network management case.
The FCC is expected to hire an outsider to oversee review of Comcast’s planned buy of NBC Universal to augment existing staff efforts of what many inside and outside the commission see as a unique deal because of the combination of broadband and cable with broadcast properties, agency and industry officials said. The move would be unusual in that most major transactions before the regulator are solely reviewed by long-time officials, though not unprecedented because of this commission’s hiring of outsiders for various roles. The regulator has looked at hiring existing employees and people outside the agency for the new role, FCC and industry officials said. It decided to hire an external candidate, an agency official said. We couldn’t learn the person’s name. This commission has used outsiders to work on the National Broadband Plan, most notably Blair Levin, who led that work.
Comcast-NBC Universal still may face FCC field hearings even after the Media Bureau denied a request to pause review of the deal until holding the sessions (WID April 6 p3), agency and public interest officials said. Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps have expressed support for the idea, and colleagues may not object if the hearings are scheduled, they said. The commission hasn’t made a decision, they said. Representatives of three of the groups that sought the informational hearings said they're optimistic that they'll get at least one. That’s because the two Democratic commissioners want the hearings, and they'd show that the FCC is taking extra steps to be transparent and let people comment on the deal without making a filing, the activists said. A Media Bureau spokeswoman declined to comment. “Having a hearing allows people to go talk to the commissioners and really put a face on it, and I think that’s important to the commission in its review,” said Policy Counsel Corie Wright of Free Press. “I'm hopeful that they realize and acknowledge that that’s the particular role they can play in vetting this merger” as part of the public-interest review. The Media Access Project, another group requesting hearings, will “press very hard for them, and I am cautiously optimistic that we will obtain them,” said Senior Vice President Andrew Schwartzman. “I think that the commission is going to see the broad public concern that’s being raised and this is a commission that is committed to transparency.” A Comcast spokeswoman declined to comment.
Comcast-NBC Universal still may face FCC field hearings even after the Media Bureau denied a request to pause review of the deal until holding the sessions (CD April 6 p10), agency and public interest officials said. Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps have expressed support for the idea, and colleagues may not object if the hearings are scheduled, they said. The commission hasn’t made a decision, they said.