If Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) wants NBC Universal as its 2010 holiday gift, it's going to have to deal with some concessions, both the American Cable Association (ACA) and U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman said.
The ACA, facing the reality that the deal will probably go through--although maybe not by the end of the year--has shifted its stance from pure opposition to a call for "meaningful conditions" to moderate the new entity's impact on small and medium-sized cable operators. "We're not asking for special advantages. We just want to compete in a fair way," said Colleen Abdoulah, CEO of WOW! and an ACA executive committee member.
In unrelated opposition, Waxman sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski reiterating the need for oversight of Comcast's programming power, urging the FCC to set "a process to resolve negotiating impasses concerning program access without harming consumers." Waxman, unlike the ACA, thinks the deal will close before the end of the year.
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