FTC OK With Disney Purchase of NBCU's A+E Stake

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The government Monday signaled it had no antitrust issues
with Disney's $3 billion purchase of NBCU's 15% stake in A+E.

That came in an early termination notice issued by the
Federal Trade Commission, which was vetting the deal. That notice means that
the FTC has terminated its Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust review of the deal and
plans no action to block or modify the deal.

The
deal, which was announced earlier this month and is expected to close in
the second half of the year, gives Disney and Hearst a 50% share each in the
cable company and its networks.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

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.