The FCC and Justice Department are investigating possible violations by Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) of mandates put forth in 2011 as conditions for regulatory approval of its NBCUniversal purchase.
"They're sitting on a ton of potential evidence," said one "individual close to the process" to the New York Post. "They're asking themselves if they can create a separate proceeding or whether they need a new complaint to allow [the evidence] to be introduced."
A Comcast rep told the paper that the cable conglomerate files annual compliance reports, which have not been challenged.
According to the report, Comcast abused promises to regulators that it wouldn't tie negotiations for linear programming to those of digital content. Comcast is also being accused of interfering with the management of SVOD service Hulu, of which it is a part owner.
Additionally, there's concern that a new arrangement that lets NBCU use Comcast cable set-top data violates merger conditions; and some operators of minority-targeted channels say their position on the Comcast programming grid is so obscure, they can't support their businesses.
Speaking in regard to the Hulu allegations, the Comcast rep said the cable company "had no role in making, evaluating, or reconsidering any management decisions at Hulu, including the decision by Disney and Fox first to put Hulu on the market and subsequently the decision by them not to sell Hulu."
Comcast has already been dinged once for violating its 2011 merger mandates. In 2012, it was fined $800,000 by the FCC for failing to adequately promote the availability of standalone broadband services.
For more:
- read this New York Post story
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