[opendtv] Lawmakers Grill Comcast-NBCU Merger Witnesses
- From: Albert Manfredi <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 19:07:57 -0500
Seems that all the fuss is about ensuring that other cable networks have access
to the Comcast/NBC content.
Instead my concern continues to be, what is Comcast planning to do with the NBC
O&Os, and OTA broadcasting of NBC content in general. That is rarely, if ever,
mentioned.
Bert
----------------------
http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/94312
Lawmakers Grill Comcast-NBCU Merger Witnesses
02.04.2010.
WASHINGTON: If today’s House subcommittee hearing is any indication, Comcast
and NBCU executives will have plenty of ’splaining to do before legislators OK
a proposed merger. Members of the House Commerce Subcommittee on
Communications, Technology and the Internet wanted assurances that Comcast
competitors would get a fair shake at the manifold video channels the cable
operator would control with 51 percent ownership of NBC.
“We will continue to abide by FCC program-access rules,” Comcast chief Brian
Roberts told Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) “That is not the motivation for this
deal, to suddenly take CNBC off of DirecTV...” or NBC’s other largest
distributors.”
Those rules aren’t always sufficient, one witness told subcommittee members.
Colleen Abdoulah is president and CEO of WOW!, a broadband provider in the
Midwest that competes with Comcast for around one out of five subscribers. WOW!
also buys content from both Comcast and NBCU.
“As a buyer of content, both cable and online, we face a different set of
challenges. The prospect of having Comcast and NBCU has the largest vertical
integrator of content does concern me,” she said. “We’re not here to whine, or
ask for special privileges because we’re the smaller guy. Terms and conditions
for access to content should be the same terms and conditions available to
Comcast.”
Because they’re not, FCC program-access rules--recently modified to include
terrestrially distributed regional sports networks--did not help Abdoulah get
access to one of those networks. She described how her company was
renegotiating recently for access to one of Comcast’s regional sports networks,
and the two were about $2 million apart.
“We decided to go to arbitration,” she said. “We found out it would cost $1
million...and take 18 months.” There was no requirement for continued
provisioning of the network during arbitration, and the burden of proof is on
the party seeking program access.
“You lose programming during arbitration,” Abdoulah said. “I would have to
prove pricing wasn’t right, and I don’t have access to market data.”
Another access issue came up in the form of a conflict between Hulu and Boxee,
which makes hardware to stream Web content to TVs. Hulu is the online
distribution site for content from NBC, Fox and Disney among others. NBCU owns
a 27 percent piece of Hulu. It blocked Boxee last year from streaming its
content. When asked about the instance by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), NBCU chief
Jeff Zucker said Boxee hadn’t done a content deal with Hulu.
At least one lawmaker seemed to question the legality of the FCC’s modification
to program-access rules. Republicans Cliff Stearns of Florida, Fred Upton of
Michigan and Joe Barton of Texas stated out-and-out support for the merger.
“It’s good to see Comcast and NBC sitting side by side,” Barton said. “That
doesn’t break my heart. We’ve heard the usual predictions--this is the end of
the media world as we know it. I’m skeptical about that.”
Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) wanted to know how independent programmers would be
affected, but warned that the merger was no place to wage a network neutrality
fight. Upton concurred, but Democrat Ed Markey of Massachusetts pursued the
issue nonetheless. Restricting access to online content would be wildly
tempting for one company that owned the wires into the homes as well as the
content on those wires, he said.
Markey conjured up the example of a kid starting the next online phenomena with
“The Avatar Network,” and how, without network neutrality conditions, it might
never get off the ground. Roberts responded that “The Avatar Network” is just
the type of content Comcast would want developed.
The fate of NBC’s 200 or so network affiliates was on the mind of Doris Matsui,
Democrat from Sacramento, Calif., where KCRA-TV is the NBC station.
“I want to ensure that KCRA is not put at a competitive disadvantage,” she said.
Michael Fiorile, chief of The Dispatch Co., and head of NBC affiliate board
said the merger could compromise affiliates.
“We currently negotiate with NBC for affiliation; and separately with the cable
carrier for carriage,” he said. “The potential exists for the network to
withhold the affiliation if retransmission consent negotiations came to a
standstill. We want a structural separation of negotiations.”
Zucker responded that he didn’t foresee a need for a structural separation. The
House hearing ended with some members requesting written responses to questions
because witnesses were scheduled to appear at a similar hearing with the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
Comcast proposed in early December to take a majority stake in NBC Universal
from General Electric for roughly $8 billion. The deal has to pass through the
Justice Department or the Federal Trade Commission, and the FCC, through which
lawmakers will attempt to impose conditions.
-- Deborah D. McAdams
_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection.
http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469227/direct/01/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
