Wisconsin Democrat Sen. Herb Kohl would like Comcast to jump through yet another hoop--a Hulu hoop, to be exact--before it's allowed to buy NBC Universal for $13.75 billion. Kohl sent a letter to the Justice Department and FCC worrying about the "far reaching effects on our nation's media landscape" that the deal might have and proposing, among other things, that Comcast divest NBC's stake in Hulu within a year.
Kohl, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also included provisions that consumers would not have to subscribe to get NBC online content; that Comcast make its programs available to rivals with "reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms;" and that Comcast not move NBC broadcast programming to cable for 10 years.
In related Comcast news, Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis used Barclay's Capital 2010 Global Communications, Media and Technology conference to rake the FCC over the coals for suggesting any form of broadband regulation is needed. Angelakis suggested new regulations imposed under Title II by the FCC could lead the cable industry to curtail its current string of investment because, according to a story in Multichannel News, "our appetite to do those kinds of things more could be negatively impacted."
Angelakis also stuck to the company line that the NBCU deal should be completed by the end of the year.
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