Bloomberg, L.P.
1399 New York Avenue NW
Washington DC 20005
December 8, 2010
Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
Office of the Secretary
445 12th Street, S.W.
TW-A325
Washington, DC 20554
RE: In the Matter of Applications of Comcast Corporation, General Electric Company
and NBC Universal, Inc. for Consent to Assign Licenses or Transfer Control of Licenses,
MB Docket No. 10-56
Dear Ms. Dortch:
On Tuesday, December 7, 2010, Andy Lack, Chief Executive Officer, Bloomberg
Multimedia, Ien Cheng, Chief of Staff, Bloomberg Multimedia, Markham Erickson,
Counsel for the Coalition for Competition in Media, and the undersigned met with
Commissioner Copps regarding the above-referenced docket. Also attending the meeting
were Commissioner Copps? staff?John Giusti and Joshua Cinelli.
During the meeting, we discussed Bloomberg Television?s concerns with the
proposed merger of Comcast Corporation and NBC Universal, Inc., and in particular, we
discussed the impact such merger would have on independent sources of news,
particularly business news, such as Bloomberg Television.
We discussed the incentive Comcast will have to discriminate against Bloomberg
Television in favor of its own business news programming, CNBC. We highlighted the
mandate the Commission has to consider the impact of the proposed merger and whether
such merger is in the public interest. In that analysis, we noted that historically the
Commission?and other regulatory agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission?
have promoted news and independent programming.
To further the public interest, we noted Bloomberg?s proposed remedy, which is
to require Comcast to ?neighborhood? Bloomberg Television with CNBC.
Neighborhooding would require Comcast to place Bloomberg Television programming
adjacent to CNBC programming at every channel location where CNBC is located. Such
a remedy would ensure that consumers have choice in accessing business news
programming.
December 8, 2010
Page 2
If there are any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,
/s/
Gregory Babyak
Head of Government Affairs
CC: Commissioner Copps
John Giusti
Joshua Cinelli