Comcast Makes Merger Case in House Today
It’s a big day for Philly-based Comcast, which will make the case for its merger with Time Warner Cable today in the House of Representatives. Opponents are gathering steam.
The chief lobbyist for the nation’s small and mid-sized cable operators will tell Congress on Thursday that Comcast Corp.’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable threatens consumers and competition.
In testimony submitted in advance of his appearance before a Thursday House Judiciary Committee hearing on the deal, American Cable Assn. President Matt Polka wrote that the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal can’t be approved by the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department without strict conditions to protect smaller pay-TV distributors.“Consumer hopes for lower prices, greater choice and more competition will be dashed,” Polka said, if the FCC and DOJ “ignore or treat lightly the potential harms” from the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal.
The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel will hear from Comcast Corp Executive Vice President David Cohen.
The company argues its proposed $45 billion deal to merge the No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. cable operators would not hurt consumers since the companies overlap geographically in very few places.
