Comcast Answers Diversity Concerns with Cash, Promises

Comcast and NBC Universal have strengthened commitments about “diversity of programming, ownership, supplier, and workplace opportunities” since representatives last appeared before the Communications Subcommittee Feb. 4, Joseph Waz, Comcast senior vice president, said in written testimony. Comcast’s “commitment to diversity is certainly not new,” he said. “We have embraced diversity because it is the right thing to do and because it is good business.” The company has been shoring up support from potential opponents to the deal as review at the FCC and Justice Department is still relatively early-on (CD July 6 p3).

The new commitments respond to concerns from Congress about diversity, said NBC Universal Chief Diversity Officer Paula Madison in written testimony. “Ranging from diversity in programming and news to diversity in procurement, workforce development and philanthropic investment, these commitments demonstrate the high priority we place on these issues and the seriousness of purpose we bring to improving diversity in both companies following the transaction.” Comcast outlined the added commitments in a July 2 letter to Rush from Executive Vice President David Cohen entered into the record Thursday at the hearing. Cohen emphasized several times in the letter that the commitments to minorities include African-Americans.

Comcast will pay $20 million into a new venture fund for expanding opportunities to minority entrepreneurs, Cohen said. Comcast and NBC Universal will expand training, internship and scholarship programs for minority students, and consider graduates for entry-level positions, he said. The companies are committed to “expanding the presence of minorities both in front of and behind the cameras” in all programming, Cohen said. Comcast will add at least 10 independently owned programming services to its digital tier over eight years, he said, including at least four owned by African-Americans -- two in the first two years. Comcast will extend carriage of current African-American programming “in key market systems” within six months of the deal’s closing, he said. The company will expand African-American VOD programming, he said.

The deal represents “a critical opportunity for both companies to implement a plan of action to address their shortcomings with respect to minority inclusion within their programming, management, ownership, and advertising activities,” said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. “From what we have gathered about the companies’ organizational structures, both Comcast and NBC have a lot of work to do.” Waters has been an outspoken critic of the deal, but she said Thursday she is “not presently opposed."

The proposed transaction offers “a rare -- and perhaps the last -- opportunity” to tackle critical diversity issues, said written testimony by Rainbow Push Coalition President Jesse Jackson. Comcast should commit to at least 10 percent of its basic-tier networks being owned and controlled by minorities, and the company should publicize the percentage of minorities employed by NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC, he said. “Aggressive benchmarks” must also be set to get more minorities in front of and behind the camera” in Comcast and NBC programming, he said. Diversity commitments must be enforceable, he added.

The deal is good for diversity, said CEO Will Griffin of Hip Hop on Demand, whose content is available through Comcast. “Comcast has the best Infrastructure of Inclusion to build upon in the media industry,” and African-American consumers and policy-makers “have more potential leverage over Comcast than any other media company,” he said in written testimony.

The 21 members of the new Coalition for Competition in Media include Free Press, Bloomberg, Parents Television Council and National Telecommunications Cooperative Association. The group placed ads Thursday in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times saying the deal would bring higher prices and ad rates and fewer choices for TV viewers and Internet users. The coalition also sent a letter to Rush and House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., saying the amount of concentrated power created by the deal is “fundamentally threatening to the public interest.” Policymakers must study the impact, “and the threats must be mitigated through energetic applications of the government’s regulatory authority,” the coalition said.

Commerce Committee Republicans want no further delay in approval of the deal, 10 of them said in a June 17 letter posted Thursday by the FCC. The commission should approve the deal without adding conditions to the companies’ commitments, said the Republicans, including committee Ranking Member Joe Barton of Texas and Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns of Florida. “We urge you to reject future dilatory requests, and to make clear that you will focus on the legal and economic analyses that are relevant to your public interest review."

Lawmakers from Florida and New Jersey also urged a quick review, in letters dated June 21 and released this week. “A prolonged regulatory review by the Commission will create uncertainty for employees, affected communities, and industries that could exacerbate the severe economic pressures Florida is already facing,” wrote Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Sen. George Lemieux, who represent the state. In the other letter, seven representatives of both parties from New Jersey urged the FCC to approve the deal this year.

FCC Deal Review

The FCC continues to receive concerns and support on Comcast-NBC Universal. The commission may soon restart the 180-day shot clock on the merger, on hold at day 37, after receiving the information it requested from both companies (CD July 8 p11). A supplier of set-top boxes to Comcast supported the deal, and a coalition of more than 300 advocacy groups for people with disabilities sought a requirement that Comcast-NBC Universal pay-per-view, VOD and other channels include video descriptions. The initial round of oppositions to the deal, filed in late June (CD June 23 p3), gives investors a preliminary outline of conditions that opponents will seek, the most significant including extending program-access conditions to online video, wholesale program unbundling, net neutrality and divestiture of key assets like Hulu, Stifel Nicolaus said Thursday.

"Even if the government does not ultimately impose the most significant conditions, Comcast-NBCU could be tied down by a host of restrictions, like Gulliver” in Lilliput, “though many conditions may end up being modest and/or difficult to enforce if they regulate general conduct subject to varying interpretations,” Stifel Nicolaus analysts wrote. “Comcast is managing the government review process well, with the latest coup being agreements from network affiliates that, for a very low price, eliminate this key group as a vocal source of opposition” (CD July 6 p3) and reduce the chances that the NBC Universal-owned NBC stations would need to be sold, they said. “Approval with conditions is possible by year end, but more likely to slip into 2011.”

A combined Comcast and NBC Universal should be required to allow all devices receiving or displaying programming let consumers choose and navigate programming with nonvisual methods, the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology said in an FCC filing posted Wednesday in docket 10-56. “Remote controls and set-top boxes should be designed and developed to be accessible to and usable by people with hearing disabilities and people with vision disabilities. Such a requirement would upgrade the consumer experience for the services and products to be provided by the new entity.” The coalition said the deal will increase growth of Internet-enabled TV and movie delivery: “As a condition of the merger, these video services should be accessible to and usable by people with disabilities."

Set-top-box maker Pace offered “strong support” for Comcast-NBC Universal, as other equipment vendors have. The deal “will provide many new benefits to consumers who want the ability to access as much content as possible, on their TVs, PCs, and other devices,” Pace Americas President Michael Pulli wrote Thursday. He predicted more access to such content will speed up development of new services including the TV Everywhere online video project.