Comcast Deal for NBC Includes Stipulations that Bloomberg Requested

The Federal Communications Commission ruled Tuesday that cable operator Comcast could acquire NBC Universal, which owns business news network CNBC, but it included some stipulations that rival Bloomberg L.P., which owns Bloomberg Television, had lobbied for.

Brian Stelter of the New York Times writes, “Broadly, the Federal Communication Commission said that Comcast must not favor its own content over competitors’ content on its cable systems. Specifically, the commission said that ‘if Comcast neighborhoods its news (including business news) channels, it must include all unaffiliated news (or business news) channels in that neighborhood.’

“In the deal, Comcast will own CNBC, a rival to Bloomberg TV. Essentially, Bloomberg wanted to make sure that if Comcast clusters together news channels, Comcast won’t leave Bloomberg TV out of that group.

“‘In today’s order, the F.C.C. has taken strong action to preserve independent news programming, and protect competitors against discrimination,’ Dan Doctoroff, the president of Bloomberg L.P., said in a statement. ‘The F.C.C. has recognized the critical importance of neighborhooding and ensuring that independent channels are treated fairly and consumers are protected.’”

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