Web TV could come with a price tag after Comcast-NBC

Free TV shows on the Internet could be harder to find if Comcast Corp succeeds in acquiring a majority stake in NBC Universal. Comcast would become a partner in Hulu, the video website which allows viewers to watch TV shows on the Web for free, a business potentially worth billions of dollars if consumers had to pay to watch the shows. The video website is jointly owned by NBC Universal, News Corp and Walt Disney Co. Hulu is the most popular site in the United States for watching TV shows, according to comScore. If Comcast has a stake in Hulu's future, as Mitchell suggests, it effectively reduces competition to the cable sector. Since web video is still a fledgling sector, however, it is unlikely to raise the hackles of US regulators, said analysts. Indeed, the Federal Communications Commission is likely to focus on other concerns if General Electric, which controls NBC Universal, decides to sell a 51 percent stake to Comcast, as sources have said the two sides are talking about. Namely, the FCC may be concerned about combining NBC Universal's national broadcast network, NBC, and its huge range of cable networks, like Bravo and USA, with the largest cable operator in the country.