Comcast-NBCU: Some critics concede deal's done as others continue the fight

The American Cable Association and Bloomberg, raving opponents of the Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA)-NBC Universal merger, are OK with the deal now that the FCC has approved it with some stringent conditions.

ACA President Matt Polka, in fact, went so far as to "applaud the FCC Chairman (Julius Genachowski) and commissioners for producing an order" that, he said, responded to "transaction-specific harms demonstrated by ACA in numerous filings and economic studies."

Of course, not every critic was so conciliatory. The Parents Television Council said the same conditions the ACA found laudatory "fall well short of serving the public interest" and the Media Access Project found that the government approval "sends a message to other phone and cable companies that they, too, can buy content providers." Free Press, another opponent, applauded Commissioner Michael Copps for being the lone dissenter in the 4-1 approval.

For more:
- Broadcasting & Cable has this story
- and this story
- see this ACA news release

Related articles:
FCC, Justice approve Comcast-NBC Universal merger, with conditions
ACA Study: Consumers to pay $2.4 billion more if Comcast gets NBCU
ivi TV to tell FCC, Congress about opposition to Comcast-NBCU
Getting down to it: Regulators lay out conditions for Comcast-NBCU