Comcast’s Take on the Deal

The following is an edited excerpt from Comcast executive
vice president David Cohen’s Jan. 18 blog post on the
Comcast-NBC Universal deal approval:

I am pleased to report that today
we received final regulatory clearance for the
Comcast and General Electric joint venture
relating to NBC Universal. As we proceed
to close this transaction, we look forward to
ushering in new benefits for consumers and
hastening the arrival of the digital multiplatform,
anytime, anywhere media and communications
future that Americans want.

We have stated — and we believe the years
ahead will prove — that this combination is procompetitive,
pro-consumer, and strongly in the
public interest. We are gratified that with the
clearance of the Federal Communications
Commission and the Department of Justice, we can
now move forward to combine these assets. This new
combination will make possible more innovative programming
and distribution opportunities which will
permit us to better serve the interests of many key segments
of the viewing audience including local viewers
in the markets served by NBC Universal’s owned-andoperated
NBC and Telemundo stations, the particular
interests of Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans,
children and families, and other key audience
segments. We’ve also made a major commitment to encourage
broadband adoption by low-income families,
advancing an important national goal.

When we announced this transaction last year, we
made an unprecedented series of pledges affirming how
we would deliver public-interest and consumer benefits.
As we continued the dialogue with stakeholders
and regulators, we refined and
enhanced these public-interest commitments.
In all, the many commitments we
have made in connection with this transaction
will expand on the strengths that Comcast
and NBC Universal have built over the
years and the new opportunities this combination
makes possible.

Most importantly, all of the commitments
we have made, and conditions that we have
agreed to, are wholly consistent with the
manner in which we have always intended
to conduct the Comcast and NBC Universal
businesses. None of them will prevent
us from executing on our business plans or will impair
the competitiveness of any of our businesses.

We are grateful for the broad support this transaction
received throughout this process. We believe it not
only had more public support on the record than any
transaction ever before, but was also one of the most
thoroughly examined media/communications transactions
ever.

For America to continue to lead in the entertainment
and information industries, it has to innovate in both
content creation and distribution. Comcast and NBC
Universal will continue to be drivers of that innovation.
As soon as the transaction closes, we can get started.