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The Hill: Hillicon Valley: Rep. Waters links Cablevision conflict to NBC-Comcast merger

October 27, 2010

By Gautham Nagesh
 
House Judiciary Committee member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said Monday that the standoff between Cablevision and Fox raises additional concerns about the planned merger between NBC Universal and Comcast.

Waters has previously raised concerns regarding minority representation in the media related the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Justice's pending review of Comcast's proposed acquisition of a majority stake in NBC Universal. In a letter sent to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and the Justice Department on Monday, she said the ongoing dispute between Cablevision and Fox's parent company News Corp. over carriage rates raises additional concerns about the NBC-Comcast deal.

"I have grown increasingly concerned with the potential harm that could result if such a dispute ever arose between a competing cable company and a combined Comcast-NBC," Waters said. "Absent substantive diversity and other public interest conditions, the Comcast-NBC merger could prove harmful to competition among traditional cable and broadcast companies, as well as the American public's ability to access independent and alternative sources of news and entertainment."

Waters suggested the combined entity would not have to charge itself a carriage fee for NBC, allowing it to charge exorbitant rates for competing channels. She said similar discrimination could take place between Comcast and competing Internet service providers seeking access to NBC content.

Waters urged the government to conduct an extensive review and attach conditions to the merger that would "foster greater diversity, localism and competition" in the media. She questioned the firms' proposed diversity commitments, calling the proposed $20 million capital fund for minority entrepreneurs "a marginal amount considering the scale of modern media ownership and associated operational accounts."

Waters also questioned NBC's and Comcast's committments to improve diversity among their staff and leadership, claiming they don't outline specifically how they plan to do so. However, during an interview with The Hill, NBC officials outlined a wide variety of programs dedicated to increasing minority representation among television writers, producers, executives and on-camera talent. Comcast has in the past pointed to the large number of minority lawmakers and community organizations who have written in support of the merger.