Judge approves Comcast-NBCU, but orders FCC to track online video impact

A federal judge gave final approval to Comcast's (Nasdaq: CMCSA) merger with NBCUniversal, but ordered the FCC to track how online video providers are impacted by deal.

Before Comcast closed the NBCUniversal deal in January, some online video distributors had expressed concerns that Comcast would throttle their ability to deliver programming to cable subscribers. Under the consent decree issued by U.S. District Court judge Richard Leon Thursday, the FCC must maintain a report for two years which details how many online video distributors initiate arbitration proceedings with Comcast.

Leon had said that he was concerned about how online video distributors would be impacted by the merger, after holding a hearing on July 27. "I grew increasingly concerned that the Government's non-appealable arbitration mechanism for online video distributors did not serve the public interest," Leon wrote in the consent decree.

Comcast and other cable MSOs face increased competition from Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and other over-the-top video distributors. While Comcast has the technical capability to throttle the delivery of online video programming, Leon's order could ensure that the FCC will be able to protect OTT distributors relying on Comcast's high-speed Internet service to reach viewers.

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- Broadcasting & Cable has this story

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