Bloomberg opposed to Comcast deal for CNBC parent

Bloomberg LP joined other organizations in formally opposing Comcast’s deal to acquire NBC, the parent of business news channel CNBC, reports John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable.

Eggerton writes, “That is according to a copy of a letter (supplied by Bloomberg) to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Christine Varney, who is overseeing the Justice Department’s review of the deal. The groups say that they oppose the merger as filed, which is short of officially asking the FCC to deny the deal. Instead, they ask Genachowski and Varney to ‘exercise their authority to protect the public using whatever means deemed appropriate.’

“Theoretically that could include denying the deal outright, but it could also mean putting conditions on the deal that address the groups’ concerns.

“Those concerns include the potential for the deal to undermine independent programmers, ‘drive up’ costs of cable and satellite programming, reduce online access to ‘must-have’ programming, and a number of general perceived harms about the combination of NBCU and its programming and distribution assets with the largest cable distributor.”

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