Waxman, Markey, Sanders Urge the FCC to Impose Strong Conditions on Comcast-NBCU Merger
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, Representative Ed Markey and Senator Bernie Sanders recommended that the FCC place conditions on the new company if the merger is approved.
Rep. Waxman wrote a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on December 7, encouraging conditions placed to protect consumers and promote competition in the marketplace:
After careful consideration, I have concluded that if the merger is approved, it could trigger significant changes in the way consumers access video programming, in the way independent programmers distribute their works, and in the way all video distributors compete for customers. To protect consumers and promote competition, I believe the FCC should impose conditions on the merger in four key areas.
The four areas that Waxman identified for conditions are:
- Program Access
- Online Video Markets and an Open Internet
- Unaffiliated Cable Programmers
- Independent Programmers
In his own letter to Chairman Genachowski, Rep. Markey wrote:
The expansive breadth of the combination of Comcast and NBCU has the potential to have a dramatic and durable impact on the media marketplace. Accordingly, the Commission's scrutiny of the transaction, consistent with its duty to ensure that it is in the public interest, is essential for a vibrant media ecosystem now and in the future.
Senator Sanders wrote a letter to Chairman Genachowski condemning the current restructuring of the companies' senior executive ranks in anticipation of the merger. According to Sanders, the pre-emptive restructuring was viewed as a blatant disregard for the ongoing review process.
On December 6, Sen. Sanders wrote an article in POLITICO calling the merger a "giant step in the wrong direction" and predicting that the merger "would create a monolithic media superpower and cause irreparable damage to the U.S. media landscape and society as a whole."
The review of the merger is still under inspection by the FCC and the Justice Department. A decision is expected by the end of the year.
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