The Wall Street Journal pays attention to a little-discussed but potentially huge problem for Time Warner and Comcast: regulators are giving the two companies a hard time in reviewing their joint bid to buy bankrupt Adelphia. DC attorneys have been talking about this for a while, and now this piece by Peter Grant and Amy Schatz contends that the FCC is asking for an inordinate amount of data related to the transaction.
The FCC has asked, for example, how Comcast and Time Warner make programming decisions on a system-by-system basis. In previous big cable mergers, such as Comcast’s acquisition of the former AT&T Corp.’s cable unit, the FCC asked how programming decisions were made on a national level. The FCC’s information request also focuses on several delicate areas, including agreements for regional sports programming and “net neutrality” rights — essentially preventing companies from discriminating against Internet traffic. The latter request is notable because FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wasn’t particularly concerned about net neutrality in two recent Bell mergers.
Another official, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, issued civil subpoenas to all three companies yesterday asking for documents related to the deal.
Cynthia Brumfield at 8:54 AM|Comments(0)
Blogs We Read
