Comcast/NBCU Support Comment Deadline Extension
Comcast and NBCU support the request by the American Cable
Association and other critics of the deal for a two-week extension of the FCC
deadline for comment on Comcast/NBCU's 599-page defense of their proposed joint
venture.
Comcast confirms that it plans to tell the FCC Wednesday that it
has no problem giving them the extra two weeks--until Aug. 19, but with the
expectation that the FCC will not stop its shot clock on review of the deal,
which gives the FCC until the end of August to vet the deal, though the clock
is informal.
The American Cable Association and other small and midsized telcos
requested the extra days, saying it was not enough time to go over the
document.
Comcast points out that the extra two weeks will give those
parties about the same amount of time it had to comment on the numerous
filings in initial comments. Initial comments were due June 21, and Comcast's
response was due July 21.
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Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.