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Comcast's small competitors in the cable sector asked the Department of Justice to examine whether Comcast was using its television programs to harm its competitors.
The American Cable Association (ACA), a lobby group representing more than 700 small television and broadband companies, called for the investigation in a letter to Justice Department Chief of Antitrust Law Makan Delrahim.
The survey should target "commercial practices of the vertically integrated media giant Comcast-NBCU, focusing on the damage resulting from the control of the cable systems, television stations and regional sports networks (RSN) of the dominant communication company focused on some of the biggest local markets in the country, "ACA said in a press release today. Some ACA members such as RCN, Wide Open West and Wave Broadband are in direct competition with Comcast for television and broadband customers in some local markets.
Comcast told Ars that the ACA's letter to the DOJ "is baseless and constitutes an inappropriate attempt to leverage the commercial market."
In 2011, the US government imposed restrictions on Comcast's business practices in exchange for the approval of NBCUniversal's purchase by Comcast, but these conditions have expired this year, ACA noted. According to the ACA, Comcast today represents "an even greater threat to competition than in 2011" and a greater threat than the recent merger between AT & T and Time Warner Inc., what the GM is trying to reverse a case in court.
Comcast will likely use its increased leverage to increase the price of programming that smaller cable companies buy at Comcast, ACA said.
Last year, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Urged the Department of Justice to consider the possibility of dissolving Comcast and NBC after the expiration of the terms of the merger or at least to extend them beyond the expiration date. The Justice Department has not extended the conditions but warned Comcast in August to "continue to monitor the evolution of how the company handles television programming and distribution," Bloomberg had then announced.
The ACA said it was a good thing, but a thorough investigation was also needed. The lobby group said he and his members "will cooperate fully to contribute to the investigation, including providing information on Comcast-NBCU practices".
"While oversight by the Justice Department is certainly a step in the right direction, such a passive approach is unlikely to be effective against a sophisticated and gigantic firm such as Comcast-NBCU," said the ACA at the Ministry of Justice. "By opening a formal investigation, the GM will demonstrate the seriousness of his objectives and give him the ability to gather enough information to determine if Comcast-NBC is acting in an anti-competitive manner." This will also show his rivals that the GM is seriously considering his experiences with Comcast-NBCU and will preserve the confidentiality of these communications. "
Comcast defends itself
In a statement to Ars, Comcast is defended and said to be facing stiff competition in the video market. Comcast said:
The video programming and distribution markets are incredibly competitive. New programmers and distribution platforms are giving consumers more and more choices on what and where to watch. At Comcast NBCUniversal, we compete in this dynamic environment as we have always done – by continuing to innovate and conducting business in compliance with antitrust laws and other legal requirements.
Among other things, Comcast Cable brought Netflix and YouTube to our X1 platform. In addition, NBCUniversal has provided content to Hulu, Netflix and hundreds of other traditional providers.
We contacted the GM today and we will update this story if we get an answer.
President Donald Trump weighed on Twitter:
American Cable Association has big problems with Comcast. They say that Comcast regularly violates antitrust laws. "These guys are doing a lot worse and have a lot more risk of doing damage to consumers than anything AT & T-Time Warner would do." Charlie Gasparino
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2018
ACA: Comcast / NBC worse than AT & T / TimeWarner
The ACA has stated that Comcast's ability to raise prices of its rivals "is comparable to any similar problem created by the combination AT & T-TW".
"Unlike Time Warner, Comcast-NBCU has significant local programming required, including 11 NBC local television stations and seven NBC regional sports networks, and unlike AT & T, Comcast is the leading distributor of multichannel video programs in many these local markets hold market shares above 60%, "said ACA.
Comcast Offers Bulk Video and Broadband Bundles in Much of the United States Than AT & T, "Which Means Comcast-NBCU Will Probably Generate Significantly Higher Profit Margins by Changing Customers Compared to AT & T, which implies that Comcast-NBCU has leverage on programming prices has increased significantly compared to that of AT & T-TW, "said ACA.
Comcast "demonstrated a willingness" to abuse this advantage to harm its rivals even when the terms of the merger were in effect, the ACA wrote. For example, "Comcast-NBCU used its deep pockets to adopt a delay tactic that prevented them from complying with the Bloomberg TV condition" and "refused to offer a standalone broadband Internet access service in accordance with the condition of the FCC, "ACA said. (In 2012, the FCC fined Comcast $ 800,000 for autonomous broadband infringement and extended this one-year merger condition.)
The ACA letter added: "We do not even know how many times Comcast's rivals have been threatened with using arbitration [merger condition] or another condition to force Comcast-NBCU to limit to a certain extent its natural propensity to harm its rivals. "
Now that the terms of the merger between Comcast and NBCU have expired, the ACA said its members were also concerned that Comcast would use its 30% stake in Hulu to restrict rivals' ability to access Hulu and make it available to their competitors. customers. their cable offers. "
"When he was submitted to the 2011 [merger] Comcast-NBCU has at least thought twice before engaging in anti-competitive acts, "said the ACA. Without a leash, she can indulge in a much wider range of bad behavior and, if caught, simply use her deep pockets to play out of the clock or, at worst, ask for forgiveness. "
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