A House subcommittee will hold a hearing Feb. 4 on the proposed Comcast-NBC deal, the same day as a Senate antitrust subcommittee hearing on the deal, according to a notice about the hearing.
Brian Roberts, the chairman and CEO of Comcast, and Jeff Zucker, the president and CEO of NBC Universal, are both scheduled to testify in front of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee in the morning, and the Senate Judiciary panel in the afternoon.
The House subcommittee on communications, technology, and the Internet will hold a hearing at 9:30, called “An Examination of the Proposed Combination of Comcast and NBC Universal.”
The subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.)
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) who chairs the full Energy and Commerce panel, said the proposed merger raised “questions regarding diversity, competition, and the future of the production and distribution of video content across broadcasting, cable, online, and mobile platforms.”
“It is imperative that the FCC, the Justice Department, and the FTC rigorously assess whether this transaction is in the public interest,” Waxman said when the deal was announced.
The Senate hearing, set for 2:30 pm, will be chaired by Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wis.)
The merger is expected to undergo two more hearings on Capitol Hill. As was reported two weeks ago, the Justice Department is reviewing the deal for antitrust concerns, and the Federal Communications Commission will assess if the deal is in the public interest.
