Comcast-NBCU merger review expected to go into 2011

The federal reviews of Comcast's proposed merger with NBC Universal will likely extend into early 2011, according to Stifel Nicholaus analyst Rebecca Arbogast.

One increasingly thorny part of the merger is Comcast's tangle of relationships with broadcasters and competitors. Those ties get even more complicated as Comcast seeks to acquire a vastly larger library of channels and content from NBC, analysts say. In a research note to investors, Arbogast noted the Federal Communications Commission recently made additional requests to Comcast and NBCU for extensive information and documents on programming deals. That information is due Oct. 18. Among dozens of questions, the FCC asked for information related to Comcast's agreement to distribute its regional sports network programs and other channels like E! and Sprout to competitors Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Dish and others.

"We believe the detailed information requests are consistent with the broad and deep probing that both the FCC and DOJ have been doing in their reviews, and are a further sign of the complexity of the policy issues raised by a major industry transaction combining video distribution, content, and broadband/Internet assets," Arbogast wrote in an earlier note on Oct. 4. "We also do not believe such second requests for information in big, complicated deals are uncommon, but we do believe this one increases the likelihood the government's review will not be completed until early next year."