Voting 4 to 1, the Federal Communications Commission has granted approval of the merger between cable and Internet giant Comcast and NBC Universal, a subsidiary of the General Electric Company (GE).
The approval comes with a number of conditions and enforceable commitments, including the fostering of competition in the online video marketplace; increasing local news coverage; expanding children’s programming; enhancing availability of Spanish-language programming; offering affordable broadband services to low-income Americans and increasing broadband access to schools, libraries, and underserved communities. Read more on the merger decision at POLITICO.
The Department of Justice announced its final approval of the settlement this afternoon. Comcast and NBCU can now proceed with their venture “conditioned on the parties’ agreement to license programming to online competitors to Comcast’s cable TV services, subject themselves to anti-retaliation provisions and adhere to Open Internet requirements.”
A statement released by DOJ outlines “that the proposed settlement will preserve new content distribution models that offer more products and greater innovation, and the potential to provide consumers access to their favorite programming on a variety of devices in a wide selection of packages.”