New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a news mogul before he was a politician, and his Bloomberg Television financial news cable channel directly competes with CNBC. Bloomberg wants his channel to be made available in the same general group of channels where CNBC and other news channels are operated.
Bloomberg was one of the competing corporations that joined a lengthy list of media watchdogs in opposing the Comcast/NBCU joint venture, and channel grouping was Bloomberg’s specific concern.
The service is complaining that Comcast is in violation of merger conditions in not moving it next to CNBC, and claims that it is precisely the sort of behavior it was concerned about when it opposed the venture – that Comcast would discriminate in favor of its own owned media properties.
Comcast says that Bloomberg simply does not understand how it apportions its channels, and says it is doing nothing improper.
Bloomberg is warning that it will formally complain to the FCC if the matter is not resolved satisfactorily – that means favorable channel assignments in the top 35 DMAs within 60 days, according to an article in Philadelphia Business Journal.
