Is a la carte back on the menu?

[Commentary] At the Chicago field hearing on the proposed Comcast-NBC merger, James Speta, a professor with the Northwestern University School of Law, noted that it might be difficult to stop the merger from a legal standpoint because most of the fear was based on "what might happen." Much of what Internet service providers and other multichannel providers fear is based on Comcast-NBCU's potential to gouge competitors for content fees, hold back the most desirable content and provide preferential treatment for its own content. Among the multiple restrictions being proposed by opponents of the deal are strong safeguards against Comcast using its massive power over content to harm competitors or forced divestitures of some assets. While not proposed as part of the merger, Vittore predicts that one of the end results of this merger will be a renewed interest in requiring all pay TV providers to offer a la carte programming. Perhaps this comes from the FCC but more likely from the deep-thinking minds in Congress. A la carte programming has been discussed for more than a decade and has been successfully beaten back by programmers every time. But with one of the largest programmers about to be swallowed into a vertically integrated powerhouse, the concept is about to get another hearing.

[Vittore is with the Yankee Group]