Comcast getting grassroots support for NBCU acquisition

While it's more than obvious that anyone with an axe to grind is sharpening it these days at the expense of Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA [1]) and its efforts to acquire NBC Universal, what's less obvious--at least without a deeper look--is that the deal is getting grassroots support.

Television Broadcast reports that among the 10,000 or so filings that the FCC must sift through as it mulls whether to approve the deal are multiple letters of support from sources like Dennis Hisey, an El Paso County, Colo. commissioner who pointed out that Comcast is "one of our county's major employers" and "supports our families and economy with job stability and benefits."

Crete, Ill. Village Administrator Thomas Durkin chimed in that Comcast "has made significant infrastructure investments through the state, committing billions of dollars to facilitate the latest technologies."

The FCC has a 180-day "shot clock" to approve the measure. That clock, like a Timex watch, might take a lickin' but it's going to keep on tickin' even as a declined to comment has been extended by two weeks. The American Cable Association and others asked for the extension--from Aug. 15 to 19--to be able to better digest a library's worth of data Comcast and NBCU recently submitted at the FCC's bequest.

For more:
- see this story [2]
- and this story [3]

Related articles:
FCC weighs Comcast/NBC Universal deal's negative impact on online video industry [4]
FCC stops clock on NBCU-Comcast merger; adds more time for comment [5]
Comcast-NBCU considerations back on track; hearings headed to Chicago [6]

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