Comcast and NBCUniversal have the go-ahead to complete their merger, but a federal judge plans to monitor its progress.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon green-lighted an antitrust settlement from the Department of Justice Thursday, but told the companies that he wants to make sure the merger is in the public interest. He’ll do so by holding oversight hearings every year, Dow Jones Newswires reported. This comes less than two months after Leon said had concerns about the tie-up, particularly regarding legal avenues that online-content companies can pursue if they have licensing disagreements with the cableco.
The Comcast-NBCU joint venture will control a formidable array of media, entertainment and communications properties, ranging from the broadband pipes that feed into millions of American homes to the popular television programming that is delivered over Comcast’s infrastructure.
Before the merger, Philadelphia-based Comcast was already the largest broadband provider in the United States as well as the No. 1 cable TV operator, with 16.7 high-speed Internet subscribers, 22.9 million video customers and 8.4 IP phone subscribers at the end of 2010.
