Judge Enters His Own OVD Condition with Comcast-NBCU Final Judgment

By Rob Scott
September 6, 2011

Consent from the U.S. Department of Justice for the Comcast-NBCUniversal merger has been approved, but with a new condition.
Comcast purchased 51 percent of NBCUniversal from General Electric in January, creating a $30 billion business that includes broadcast, cable networks, movie studios and theme parks.
At that time, the Department of Justice said Comcast could acquire NBCUniversal only if it ceded control of Hulu and made stand-alone broadband service available at $49.95 per month for three years, but the settlement still required final approval.
Last week, Judge Richard Leon delivered final approval, but stipulated that the federal government would monitor whether rival online video services, such as Hulu or Netflix, demand arbitration to license content from Comcast-NBCU for the next two years.
The ability of rivals to obtain programming was one of the key concerns of the DOJ and the FCC during reviews of the merger.
“Since neither the Court nor the parties has a crystal ball to forecast how this Final Judgment, along with its arbitration mechanisms, will actually function … I believe that certain additional steps are necessary,” Leon said in a court order.

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