FCC to debate Comcast-NBC merger
> By: Tony Romm
> June 3, 2010 11:30 AM EDT
>
> dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm
>
> Debate over Comcast’s $30-billion bid for NBC Universal heads to
> Chicago next month, where the Federal Communications Commission
> plans to hold its first of possibly many field hearings on the
> proposed mega-merger.
>
> The FCC will announce the July 13 public forum as soon as Thursday
> afternoon, an agency official told POLITICO. Regulators selected
> Chicago in part because Comcast and NBC maintain equal footings in
> the city, which is well regarded for its diversity.
>
> The announcement arrives as the House Judiciary Committee revs up
> its own regulatory engine ahead of a scheduled Monday field hearing
> in Los Angeles . That forum comes at the insistence of Rep. Maxine
> Waters (D-Calif.), who long implored the FCC to incorporate
> community reaction in its review of a merger that would combine the
> country’s largest cable and broadband provider with one of the
> nation’s top broadcast stations.
>
> Waters told POLITICO through a spokesman on Thursday that she was
> “very pleased by the FCC decision to hold this public hearing, as it
> is extremely important to have a transparent discussion of a merger
> of this size that would result in a single corporation having
> unprecedented control of what we see and hear in the media – on
> television, the Internet, on the movie screens and more.”
>
> At least one top FCC member plans to attend the July forum:
> Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who last month touted field hearings as
> the only way for the "commission to interact and see up close how
> Americans feel." It is likely that Commissioner Michael Copps,
> another vocal public hearing supporter, will also make the trip to
> Chicago .
>
> Comcast, however, said it awaits the FCC’s announcement on “who they
> choose to invite” before committing any staff members to the July
> event.
>
> “We definitely hope that the people who participate in the hearings
> have a high level of discourse and that they’re serious, and we
> expect the FCC to conduct hearings that drive the dialogue forward,”
> a spokeswoman told POLITICO.
>
> While Comcast’s bid for NBC is unprecedented in its size and scope,
> the FCC’s forthcoming forum is not uncommon for the agency, which
> typically hits the streets to canvass the public ahead of big
> proceedings.
>
> The commission sought to sponge up public opinion ahead of AOL’s
> famous purchase of Time Warner in 2000, listened to complaints on
> media ownership rules eight years later and held countless workshops
> on high-speed Internet before producing its National Broadband Plan
> this year – among other events.
>
> At times, however, those hearings have become vocal, emotional or
> rancorous, though officials hope the NBC-Comcast proceeding will be
> far more civilized and insightful.
>
> “I think it’s essential that we hear from folks beyond the Beltway,
> [and] it’s up to the FCC to create a structure that’s conducive to
> that input in a constructive way,” said a spokesman for Clyburn,
> noting the commissioner felt similarly. “But we think that’s
> possible and we’ll work with all parties involved to make sure
> that’s possible.”
> Thursday also marks the day on which the FCC will restart its 180-
> day clock to review the Comcast-NBC deal. The agency paused its
> formal proceedings earlier this year to solicit additional info
> rmation from the Philadelphia-based cable company about the economic
> effects of its merger.
>
> The clock now resumes at day 29, in time for the FCC to complete its
> review by early November. A Comcast spokeswoman predicted the public
> hearing – which will occur during the first leg of the merger review
> – will not set back the agency’s time clock, contrary to some
> skeptics’ fears.
>
>
>
> Josh Stearns
> Associate Program Director
> Free Press :: www.freepress.net
> SaveTheNews :: www.savethenews.org
> Twitter: @jcstearns
> Phone: 413.585.1533 ext. 204
>
> reform media. transform democracy.
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