FCC, DoJ Investigate NCB, Comcast Merger

The FCC and DOJ are scrutinizing the NBC/Comcast deal that was announced late last year.

In December, Comcast and General Electric announced that in a deal valued at $37 billion, Comcast, the country's largest cable television company, would start a joint venture with NBC Universal, strengthening its push into programming.

However, the deal raised many concerns with regard to antitrust and a significant amount of people questioned whether or not it was wise to allow the nation's biggest broadband and cable company to merge with NBC. The FCC and the Department of Justice appeared before congress last week to answer questions about their respective investigations into the deal.

While there has been no hint as to what the two bodies will conclude after conducting their reviews, the Associated Press cites industry analysts who expect regulators to approve the deal but with conditions in place to prevent the combined company from abusing its market power.

The New York Post reports that both the FCC and DOJ will conduct investigations into the multi-billion dollar deal. The Justice Department will consider the competitive issues, while the FCC, with a broader mandate, will take into account the impact on universal service, spectrum allocation and the diversity of news and content.

Read more on the New York Post and the Associated Press.