Insomniacs must be shattered to know that today's FCC-created meeting between economists and regulators to discuss the Comcast-NBC Universal acquisition is closed to the public. Just imagine: regulators and economists in the same room; Sominex optional.
Seriously, the economists at the meeting will include representatives from Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) (in favor of the deal, obviously), Bloomberg (heartily opposed) and the American Cable Association (seeking conditions). Also expected to parachute in for the meeting are reps from satellite companies Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) and DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV), both of which oppose the deal and the Justice Department, which is holding its own hearings.
At stake is whether Comcast should be allowed to pull $30 billion or so from its pocket and acquire the broadcast network, its cable programmers and, not to be forgotten, the Universal theme parks. Privacy is the theme of the meeting, although the FCC is expected to release an edited transcript of the gathering with any "sensitive" material removed.
For more:
- see this blog post
- and this story
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