Disney, CBS Queried by US in Comcast Merger

Apparently, the Justice Department has reached out to Walt Disney, Discovery Communications and CBS as it investigates whether the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger is anticompetitive.

While none of the companies has publicly opposed the acquisition, some have said they want the US to ensure that Comcast won’t favor its own programming over their content if the merger is approved. Other media companies have also been approached. Among other issues, the antitrust division is asking about most-favored-nation clauses.

The contracts are used by Comcast and other pay-TV providers to ensure competitors can’t get better content-licensing deals with programmers.