Hand-Wringing in Comcast-NBC Deal

Major media companies are raising concerns that government conditions on Comcast Corp.'s impending deal to acquire control of NBC Universal from General Electric Co. could put them at a disadvantage in future negotiations to shape the burgeoning online video market.

At issue is a condition proposed by the Federal Communications Commission that would require Comcast to offer NBC programming to any online video service that has reached a similar deal for content from at least one of NBC's competitors, such as Walt Disney Co. or News Corp. Lobbyists for both Disney and News Corp., along with Time Warner Inc. Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes, have been voicing their concerns this week with the FCC, worried that such conditions could undermine their own efforts to profit from the nascent online video industry. People familiar with the matter say the media companies are concerned that the rules would interfere with their own negotiations with online providers like Netflix Inc. or Apple Inc. and could have a range of unknown consequences for their business. Such a condition might also lessen their control over how the online video market evolves, making it harder for them to reserve their content for particular services. It would also mean that Time Warner or Disney couldn't try out a new video platform without knowing that the service's owner would also get NBC content, and it could make it easier for Internet video services to acquire content, making them more formidable challengers to cable and satellite companies. Some opponents of the condition have suggested setting the bar higher and requiring online video providers to reach content deals with two or more NBC competitors, according to the people close to the negotiations.