(FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 3/14/15)
By Thomas Gryta and Shalini Ramachandran
The Federal Communications Commission is putting on hold its
review of Comcast Corp.'s deal for Time Warner Cable and AT&T
Inc.'s planned acquisition of DirecTV, pending a court decision
related to the disclosure of video-programming contracts.
The commission said Friday it had stopped the clock on its
180-day reviews, which were due to expire by the end of March, and
can resume the process as it sees fit.
The move is the latest delay in lengthy review processes for
both transactions. Comcast agreed to buy Time Warner Cable for $45
billion in February of last year, while AT&T announced its $49
billion deal for DirecTV in May. Setbacks along the way have put
the two reviews on similar timelines.
Comcast has been saying that it expects its deal to close early
this year.
A Comcast spokeswoman on Friday called the court case a
"procedural matter" and said a decision from the court is expected
soon.
A Time Warner Cable spokeswoman said the company is "pleased"
with the progress on the review so far.
AT&T expects the issues around the litigation to be resolved
quickly and still expects to close on the DirecTV deal in the first
half of the year, according to a spokesman.
But the deals still face hurdles. Comcast still hasn't begun the
process of negotiating with regulators over conditions for possible
approval, and while AT&T has started those talks it has yet to
tackle major issues, people close to the situation say. The mergers
are also subject to review by the Justice Department.
In November, CBS Corp., Walt Disney Co., Viacom Inc. and other
TV-channel owners challenged in court an FCC decision to give third
parties commenting on the mergers limited access to
video-programming contracts with the merging companies.
The TV-channel owners are fighting the disclosure of that
information, which may include pricing and strategy insights. The
FCC has argued that the information will allow for more input into
the deal review and that the agency has placed protections to
prevent the details from becoming public.
In late February, a U.S. appeals court heard arguments in the
case, but hasn't yet issued a decision.
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