Now that Congress has held a few hearings on Comcast’s historical bid to acquire 51 percent of NBC Universal, members are getting down to the nitty gritty. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), chairman of the Senate Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee, has come to the conclusion that the deal should not be approved without conditions, conditions he outlined in a six-page letter Wednesday (May 26) to the Department of Justice.
“Our examination of this transaction has led us to conclude that Comcast’s acquisition of NBC Universal has the potential for serious anticompetitive and anticonsumer effects in at least three respects,” the Senator wrote, referring to the ability of other pay TV services to compete with the new entity; the ability of other programmers to gain access to the new entity’s distribution platform; and third, the deal’s impact on new methods of delivering video over the Internet.
Kohl
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