The FCC has given its conditional approval to a joint venture between US cableco Comcast and broadcaster NBC Universal.
The US regulator said in an announcement yesterday that it had come to the decision after a th o rough review. The deal was approved…
The FCC has given its conditional approval to a joint venture between US cableco Comcast and broadcaster NBC Universal.
The US regulator said in an announcement yesterday that it had come to the decision after a th o rough review. The deal was approved by a majority of four votes to one by the commission.
The FCC set several conditions on the deal, including an assurance that there will be reasonable access to Comcast-NBCU programming for multichannel distribution. Other conditions focussed on protecting the development of online competition and access to Comcast’s distribution systems.
The two companies also made several voluntary commitments for the deal, which included promises on programming diversity and Comcast making a pledge to provide high-speed internet access to 2.5 million low-income households for less that US$10 a month.
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who voted for the joint venture, said that “if the parties live up to the terms of the voluntary commitments from the applicants and the conditions that we have imposed on them, this transaction will result in more benefits to consumers than harms”.
