Coalition wants another hearing on Comcast-NBCU merger

A coalition of advocacy groups and companies opposed to Comcast's proposed acquisition of NBC Universal wrote key lawmakers on Thursday reiterating their objections and requesting a final hearing to allow the public to weigh in on the deal once more.

The Coalition for Competition in Media, which includes Bloomberg, the Media Access Project, the National Organization for Women and the Writers Guild of America, claims the merger would limit choice for consumers and give Comcast unprecedented influence as one of the nation's largest cable providers and the owner of one of the four broadcast networks.

In a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Commerce committees, the coalition argues the Comcast merger has prompted thousands of filings in opposition to the merger since the last hearing, which have added "new dimensions to the discussion." The groups also argue that any decision made by the government on this merger would likely establish precedent for similar transactions down the road.

"We urge you to bear in mind that whatever actions are taken by regulators in this merger will set the benchmark for future industry consolidation. Critical consumer protection conditions that are not applied in this merger will be difficult to impose on similar mergers in the future, even if the harms that have been predicted do come to pass," the letter states.

The groups express concern that other distributors may feel the need to purchase the remaining large content providers in order to compete with Comcast and avoid having to purchase programming from them. They also fear increased prices and discrimination against independent programmers that compete with NBC and Comcast content.

"Comcast’s incentives to undermine the ability of independent programmers to fairly compete will reduce diversity in media and limit consumer choice. The myriad complaints at the FCC against Comcast on this issue should leave no doubt as to the likelihood of such danger," the letter states.

They also note that Comcast would have a dominant position in many major metropolitan areas — including Washington — if the deal were to be approved. In those markets Comcast would own the dominant cable and broadband provider in addition to the local NBC station, the local Telemundo station and the regional sports network with exclusive rights to hometown sports.

Update: Comcast spokesperson Sena Fitzmaurice sent the following statement in response:

“There have already been an unprecedented number of public hearings on this transaction, six Congressional hearings, an FCC public forum, and one of the longest public comment periods in Commission history. Most of these opponents have opposed the transaction since the day it was announced over nine months ago and are only seeking to further delay the review process. Congress, the FCC and DOJ should reject the delaying tactics of this group driven by a few special business interests, and the review process should continue without interruption. We continue to believe this transaction will close by year-end.”