Redacted Dish Filing Points to Evidence Comcast Was Considering Out-of-Footprint OVD Offering
Comcast's highly confidential documents refute its claims that it and Time Warner Cable wouldn't be in competition if the companies don't merge, Dish Network said in a heavily redacted filing in docket 14-57 posted Wednesday. The evidence in the documents…
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establishes “unequivocally” that the deal is “a horizontal merger,” Dish said, by showing that Comcast was considering creating an out-of-footprint online video offering. Dish’s filing is so heavily redacted under confidentiality orders that the evidence it refers to is largely incomprehensible. “Such a service would benefit consumers in TWC territories and in areas served by other cable operators,” Dish said. “If the merger is consummated, the competitive benefits of Comcast’s potential entry will be lost." Comcast’s documents also show that NBCUniversal programming creates "a further incentive towards” foreclosure against other online video distributor offerings, Dish said. Comcast didn’t comment.