Sen Franken Seeks Probe of Comcast for Naming NBC Managers Before Deal Cleared

Sen Al Franken (D-MN) asked federal officials to investigate whether Comcast violated antitrust law by naming new managers at NBC Universal as regulators weigh the purchase.

"Comcast's actions may constitute 'gun-jumping' in violation of the letter and spirit of federal antitrust law," Sen Franken said in a letter to Christine Varney, the assistant U.S. attorney general for antitrust. Comcast may be seeking to indirectly control NBC "well in advance of federal approval" and its action may trigger impermissible exchanges of sensitive information, he wrote. Comcast "does not have the right to effect that merger absent explicit federal approval," Sen Franken wrote.

"Transition and integration planning is common, proper, and expected," Sena Fitzmaurice, a Washington-based spokeswoman for Comcast, said in an e-mail. "Post-closing management teams are regularly announced prior to antitrust approval. NBC Universal has remained in total control of all decision making."