Sources
confirm that the FCC has asked economists who have wieghed in on both
sides of the Comcast/NBCU deal to meet at FCC headquarters in Washington
Friday for what was described as a couple of panels sessions with
staffers vetting the proposed
deal.
An American Cable Association representative confirmed
its economist was one of those who would be in attendance, as will more
than one from Comcast, a source confirmed. Bloomberg, which has opposed
the deal as currently constituted, will also
have its economists in the room, according to a report in the Los Angeles
Times.
Company executives will not be part of the meeting, nor
will the public, but a source familiar with the meetings said a redacted
transcript will be made public afterwards.
Not surprisingly, economists came to different
conclusions about the deal's impace on competition, and the FCC is
looking to put them all in a room together to hash it out.
Comcast has argued that many of its economic conclusions
have gone unchallenged, while the other side did not have data to back
theirs up. The "other side" has included ACA economist William Rogerson,
who argued in comments that the deal presents
both significant horizontal and vertical harms.
