CWA President Cohen warns Congress about dangers of Comcast-NBC Universal deal
Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen testified before the House Judiciary Committee on February 25 about the impact of a proposed merger between Comcast and NBC Universal.
Cohen, who represents employees of both companies, made the case that the merger would adversely affect the public interest by shedding quality jobs, reducing competition, and devaluing online content and broadband services.
See highlights from Cohen's testimony below:
Job Loss and Employee Rights
"As part of the transaction, NBC debt will increase by approximately $8 billion. As a result, the new entity will be under intense pressure to cut costs and jobs."
Anti-competitive Harms
"Today, competing video distributors are often forced to purchase large bundles of channels that they and their customers do not want. Following the merger, Comcast will have more premium content and will have the ability to bundle its less desirable cable channels with must-have NBC programming to secure higher rates and more favorable placement of its programming. This forced bundling will raise other video providers' costs, and those added costs translate into higher cable rates for consumers."
Online Content and Broadband Services
"A combined Comcast/NBC could limit consumers' online access to NBC content altogether or charge consumers higher prices to access that content unless they already subscribe to cable services. This is the TV Everywhere model that Comcast and NBC have already begun to deploy, bundling content with cable subscription, thereby forcing internet customers to buy cable packages in order to see content online from NBC."
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