Comcast-NBC Deal Would Draw Lengthy Scrutiny in Washington

Comcast has courted NBC Universal for months, but the companies would need to take a long detour to Washington before they make it to the altar. If Comcast agrees to purchase majority control of the movie and television company from General Electric Co., the Obama administration would face its first media megadeal. Regulatory approval is expected to take from six months to more than a year. The government is unlikely to derail the tie-up, legal experts and others familiar with the matter say. But regulators would likely impose restrictions to mitigate potential harm to rivals and consumers. Those restrictions could wipe out some of the benefits of the deal, which if completed could be announced as early as this week. At issue is the broad reach the proposed new company would have in the American home. Comcast, the nation's biggest cable-TV carrier by subscribers, would combine its TV programming with NBC Universal. The venture would control both the pipes carrying programs into homes and many popular networks—including NBC, USA Network, Bravo and E!—that run over those pipes. Antitrust experts say that, on paper, there is little to suggest a Comcast-NBC combination would seriously threaten competition in media, as people increasingly spread their leisure hours across a multitude of diversions. Still, President Barack Obama has said his administration will take a harder line on antitrust enforcement than the preceding one.