Comcast/NBCU Critics Take Case to State AGs
Coalition Calls For Investigations Into Impact Of Merger On States
John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 8/4/2010 4:46:12 PM
The Coalition for Competition in Media, whose members include Bloomberg, Free Press, the Writers Guild West and Media Access Project, have asked state attorneys general to investigate the potential Comcast/NBCU merger.
As legislators seemed to be lining up this week to support the deal, the Coalition publicized a letter it has sent to the National Association of Attorneys General telling them the deal posed a "grave threat" to consumers and asking them to investigate its impact on their states.
That came as congressional representatives from many of those states were writing the FCC and the Justice Department telling them to approve the deal and to be quick about it, saying it would be good for jobs and diversity, among other things.
"This broad horizontal and vertical integration will give Comcast unprecedented means and incentive to engage in anti-competitive behaviors that would be fundamentally harmful to consumers, competitors and workers," the coalition wrote in a letter addressed to the NAAG president.
Letters also went to five individual AGs that the coalition said had been scrutinizing the merger: Jerry Brown of California; Andrew Cuomo of New York; John Kroger of Oregon; Bill McCollum of Florida; and Rob McKenna of Washington.
"We're proud of the over 1000 elected officials and diverse organizations across the country that have expressed support for this transaction," Comcast said in a statement. "We are confident reviews will find this deal to be pro-competitive and in the public interest."
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