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Bloomberg: Fox-Cablevision Spat Raises Issues for Comcast-NBC Merger, Waters Says

October 27, 2010

by Todd Shields

News Corp.'s programming conflict with Cablevision Systems Corp. raises questions about Comcast Corp.'s proposed merger with General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, U.S. Representative Maxine Waters said today.

News Corp.'s Fox pulled programming from Cablevision in a fight over fees, and "a similar dispute could have broader implications" if Comcast uses its ownership of NBC as leverage to charge higher prices to other video providers, Waters, a California Democrat, wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. Her letter was released via e-mail.

The FCC and Justice Department are weighing the proposed acquisition, which would give Comcast, the largest U.S. cable company, control of the NBC television network, USA Network, 11 cable channels such as MSNBC, and a movie studio.

Jennifer Khoury, a spokeswoman for Philadelphia-based Comcast, declined to comment on Waters' letter.

Those linking the Cablevision-Fox dispute to the proposed merger are engaged in an "incoherent effort" to "distract the commission" from the transaction's benefits, Comcast said in a filing today with the FCC that the company provided by e-mail.