By Thomas Gryta
The Federal Communications Commission is putting its review of
Comcast Corp.'s deal for Time Warner Cable and AT&T Inc.'s
planned acquisition of DirecTV on hold, pending a court decision
related to the disclosure of video-programming contracts.
The commission said it had stopped the clocks on its 180-day
review of those deals which were set to expire by the end of March.
It said it can restart the clock as it sees necessary.
The court case is over an FCC decision to give third parties
commenting on the mergers limited access to video-programming
contracts between the merging companies and TV-channel owners like
CBS Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Viacom Inc.
The TV-channel owners are fighting the disclosure of that
information, which may include pricing and strategy insights. The
FCC has argued that the information will allow for input into the
deal review and agency has placed protections to prevent the
details from leaking.
In late February, the federal court heard arguments in the case,
but hasn't yet issued a decision. People close to the deals have
warned that the lawsuit could trip up the timeline for the
completion of the combinations, which have been closely watched in
telecom and media circles.
Comcast has been saying that it expects its deal to close early
this year. A Comcast spokeswoman on Friday called the case a
"procedural matter" and said a decision from the court is expected
soon. A Time Warner Cable spokeswoman said the company is "pleased"
with the progress on the review so far.
Brent Kendall contributed to this article.
Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@wsj.com
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