A group that opposes Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal said in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission Wednesday that the existing carriage dispute resolution process won't be enough to stop Comcast from discriminating against independent cable networks if the merger is approved.
The Coalition for Competition in Media, made up of private and public groups, said the existing process would "clearly provide no effective remedy to address the enhanced capacity for anti-competitive behavior that a merged Comcast/NBCU will present."
The coalition cited carriage complaints by WealthTV, the Tennis Channel and MASN that it said had moved much too slowly without resolution. It said that in the 17 years since the FCC established the program carriage rules, it has never ruled in favor of a programmer.
"The public interest requires the FCC to impose condition to ensure a diversity of voices and to protect independent cable networks, particularly those that compete with Comcast-owned networks, from the threat of discrimination by an ever more powerful Comcast," the coalition's letter to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said.
