Comcast-TWC Rips Discovery, Netflix in FCC Merger Comments

Comcast and Time Warner Cable lit into their opponents as the two companies defended their $45 billion merger before the Federal Communications Commission.

In a 139-page public portion of their filing to urge the FCC to approve the deal, the companies said they have demonstrated that the transaction “will deliver substantial public interest benefits and generate no cognizable competitive harms.” They suggested the deal’s opponents have offered little more than “rhetoric” and “unsupported conclusions” compared with the companies’ “extraordinarily robust” evidence that the merger is “strongly in the public interest.” They accused CenturyLink and Dish Network of “blatantly seeking protection from the forces of fair competition that would benefit consumers”; Discovery, RFD-TV, TheBlaze, and Back9 of attempting to command higher fees and terms “they could not reasonably expect in the competitive marketplace”; and Netflix and Cogent of trying to use the review to pursue objectives that had nothing to do with the transaction. The two also accused public interest groups of “asserting the same worn and unconvincing theories of harm that they have raised in virtually every industry transaction over the past two decades” and upbraided potential competitors Viamedia, RCN and Comtel for “making half-hearted efforts” to find a link to the transaction so they could achieve “parochial business interests.” The companies also dismissed as “patently absurd” Discovery’s concerns that Comcast would use its control of the Internet pipe to limit video competition.

[Dec 24]