It is “past time” for the FCC to...
It is “past time” for the FCC to enforce the conditions of the Comcast/NBCUniversal deal order and make Comcast place the Bloomberg TV network in the same neighborhood as other news networks, said the cable programmer in a filing Tuesday…
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(http://bit.ly/1cnx7ky). “After more than 29 months, over two years longer than the 180 days provided to the Commission to review the Merger, Bloomberg respectfully requests that the Commission enforce the Condition and issue a final decision on Bloomberg’s complaint.” Though Bloomberg has argued that Comcast should have to put Bloomberg’s standard-definition networks next to other news channels, Comcast has said it should only be required to put Bloomberg TV’s HD feed there (CD Oct 11/12 p12). Bloomberg pointed out that the deal order that contains the disputed neighborhood condition expires in just over four years. “That is to say that nearly 36 percent of the time required for the conditions has been allowed to run without full and meaningful implementation by Comcast of the news neighborhood condition,” said the filing. Bloomberg said the pleading cycle ended eight months ago on a Media Bureau decision to delay enforcing the condition until after an FCC review, but the commission has yet to take the matter. The FCC website listed a matter related to the companies as “on circulation” as of February. Comcast declined to comment. An FCC official said it’s not clear if acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn has a different take on the dispute than former Chairman Julius Genachowski, who was in control when the matter initially came before the agency. The Bloomberg filing may indicate that the company doesn’t want to wait for the commission’s current leadership transition, said public interest lawyer Andrew Schwartzman. “Waiting is costing Bloomberg money.” Schwartzman pointed out that it could be several months before FCC Chairman nominee Tom Wheeler takes office.