Univision CEO Says Comcast-Time Warner Cable Deal Is Bad for Hispanics

Univision CEO Randy Falco said that federal regulators should at the very least impose "much tougher restrictions" on Comcast as conditions on approving Comcast's merger with Time Warner Cable.

"Based on what I have seen and heard, I am still concerned that the proposed merger could be bad for competition and most importantly, bad for Hispanic audiences," Falco said during the company's first quarter earnings call. "The fact is that there is not one other media or telecommunications company that has the level of vertical integration of Comcast -- I'm talking about video, broadband and content -- not Google, not AT&T, not Facebook, not the satellite providers. And when it comes to video and broadband, they are by far and away the largest provider in the country."

According to Falco, the combination of Comcast and Time Warner Cable will become the dominant provider or TV and broadband not only in 30% of all TV homes, but also in 91% of Hispanic TV homes. "That gives this new company staggering influence over Hispanic consumers." The risk of the merger really is not hypothetical, especially for Univision, which competes directly with Comcasts's NBC, Telemundo and NBC Sports, Falco said.