Details Potential Negative Impacts for Independent Programmers, Cable and Internet Video Distributors, and the General Public

Media Access Project (MAP) has released testimony prepared for delivery before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee this afternoon. In the testimony, Andrew Jay Schwartzman, MAP President and CEO, expresses opposition to Comcast’s proposed acquisition of NBC Universal (NBCU).

His testimony draws attention to the transaction’s potential impact on independent programmers, since Comcast’s increase in market power would further hurt those programmers who already are unable to obtain carriage on Comcast’s cable system. The cable provider’s record of favoring its own system means its acquisition of NBC’s cable networks will greatly magnify this imbalance of power, exacerbated even more by potential practices such as forced bundling of Comcast-owned content.

“Combining NBC and Universal content with Comcast’s cable and Internet distribution systems will also give the merged company vastly increased power over content and distribution markets,” Schwartzman says. “Depending on the circumstance, Comcast could choose to withhold its programming or force it upon competitors at inflated rates. This in turn will increase cable bills and deprive customers of access to programming from diverse sources.”

Finally, Schwartzman expresses concern with Comcast’s incentive to “keep its customers from migrating to existing and potential Internet-delivered video competitors. Control of NBCU branded content as well as its one-third interest in Hulu would give Comcast a powerful mechanism to retain its video services revenue stream by strangling potential Internet-based competition before it can even get off the ground,” he says.

Schwartzman points to Comcast’s “XFinity” project as alarming precedent to a potential future of more Comcast-monopolized content. Under XFinity, Comcast Internet users must also subscribe to Comcast cable television service to access online video services.

Read Mr. Schwartzman’s testimony.