American Cable Association: Comcast/Time Warner Conditions Should Last At Least Nine Years

The American Cable Association asked the Federal Communications Commission to impose what it calls "targeted" conditions on the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger and associated Charter system spin-offs for at least nine years, perhaps more, to prevent potential anticompetitive harms.

ACA is particularly concerned with the number of video subscribers the combined company and Charter would negotiate on behalf of, which ACA says would increase from 21 million to 31.4 million. Comcast is spinning off some systems to Charter to keep the total sub count below 30 million, but ACA is counting the subscribers negotiated for on behalf of Bright House Networks and Midcontinent Communications. ACA wants improved baseball style arbitration and nondiscriminatory access conditions. ACA also says Comcast should be prohibited from negotiating programming agreements on behalf of Bright House or Midcontinent and that Charter and Comcast-affiliated programmers should "be prohibited from interfering with a third-party programmer’s ability to provide any prices, terms, or conditions to an MVPD (pay-TV company)".