U.S. Sen. Al Franken, once an NBC employee for Saturday Night Live, is not a big fan of Comcast's plan to acquire his former employer. Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, takes every opportunity to make that clear as he did when he put the matter to Attorney General Eric Holder.
According to the Washington Post, Holder had been answering questions about the promised closing of the prison at Guantanamo Bay when Franken jumped the track and pushed Holder from the Gitmo frying pan into the Comcast fire.
"If this (merger) goes through, are we going to have a situation where Verizon and AT&T see the need to buy networks and studios?" Franken asked. "Are we going to be seeing a situation where five companies are controlling all the information that we get?"
Holder deferred the questions to his antitrust guru, Christine Varney, before finally jokingly conceding his interest after Franken told him the matter affected his cable bill. "Well, now I care. I'm a Comcast subscriber. And the fact that you point out it could have an impact on my cable bill has awakened. ... You've got the A.G. more interested than I was going into this," Holder lightheartedly replied.
For more:
- see this story
Related articles:
Comcast spends $3.5 million more lobbying for NBC
Comcast deal for NBC Universal faces new concerns
Comcast returns to the Capitol 'grill'