{alltv} Comcast-NBC deal review speeds up: report

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. regulators have proposed anti-trust conditions as they aim to complete a review of Comcast Corp's proposed deal to buy NBC Universal by the end of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission are likely to impose significant conditions to prevent Comcast from withholding NBC Universal's programing from competitors, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The combination of Comcast, the No. 1 U.S. cable operator, and NBC Universal, which is majority owned by General Electric Co, would create the largest U.S. media company.

The two companies announced the proposed deal in December and it is widely expected to be approved with conditions.

The FCC is looking at all parts of Comcast and NBC Universal's combined online-video distribution chain for ways Comcast could promote content over its rivals, according to the report.

The agency is considering imposing a "net neutrality" condition on Comcast's Internet network, banning it from deliberately slowing or blocking legal traffic, the report said.

FCC staff members are meeting twice a week with commission Chairman Julius Genachowski about the deal and have set an internal deadline of circulating proposed conditions by mid-December, the report cited a person familiar with the review as saying.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department could announce its decision within weeks if Comcast accepts its proposed conditions, the report said.

Representatives for the FCC, Justice Department and Comcast could not be reached immediately outside regular business hours.

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