Advanced Television

Comcast, NBC merger conditions

November 15, 2010

Federal regulators in the US have told Comcast and NBC Universal that they have concerns the proposed merger will harm competition.  The Justice Department’s antitrust division and Federal Communications Commission are expected to approve the merger on the condition the companies agree to allow competitors – such as Time Warner Cable, Dish Network and even newcomers such as Netflix and Apple TV – are offered access to Comcast-NBC Universal’s massive library of network shows and movies.

Comcast said it expects the reviews to be complete by the end of the year. But the sticking point may be what sorts of restrictions the FCC may put on Comcast’s ability to withhold NBC shows and movies from Internet delivery platforms; along with the other US networks NBC is withholding access to its shows from Google TV.

Categories: Articles, M&A, Regulation