Sources: FCC in No Rush To Decide Comcast OVD Condition

Comcast will apparently have to wait a while longer to find out whether it can get access to over-the-top programming contracts. According to Federal Communications Commission sources, the FCC is unlikely to take any action anytime soon on an item circulated last August affirming a Media Bureau decision that a Comcast representative should be able to get access to programming contracts under the Comcast/NBCU benchmark deal condition on access to content by online providers.

The item is only one vote away from passage, according to a source who says that both Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, who circulated the item in July 2013 while acting chairwoman, and new chairman Tom Wheeler have voted to approve it. A source familiar with the item says the Chairman has not asked the other commissioners to focus on the item and expected it to remain at two votes for the foreseeable future. According to a source, broadcasters and other content providers have been meeting with FCC staffers, arguing against giving Comcast the contracts, arguing that they will inevitably be used anticompetitively.

[Dec 23]