The FCC is reviewing the proposed merger of cable/internet giant Comcast and iconic broadcast operating NBVC Universal, as is the DOJ and the general public. But the Commission has agreed that certain pieces of information it will be looking at could put both companies at a disadvantage if shared with the public, and hence, their competitors.
The FCC wrote, “We agree that the information you describe in your letters has generally been allowed to be designated ‘Highly Confidential,’” and agreed to keep certain pieces of information out of the spotlight in this case.
From the FCC, here are the categories of reported info that may be withheld from public release:
A. Comcast’s Detailed Financial Data: Granular information relating to costs for video-on-demand and online distribution technology, including capital expenditures and operating costs; granular information relating to programming budgets for programming networks, disaggregated on a network-by-network basis.
B. Comcast’s Detailed Customer Data: Customer data disaggregated by Designated Market Area or other limited geographical area, by service, and by period of time.
C. Comcast’s Video Programming and Carriage Agreement Terms and Conditions: Information relating to the details of video programming and carriage agreements, programming rights, retransmission agreements, linear carriage agreements, video-on-demand agreements, and online distribution agreements, including information regarding the details of the negotiation for such agreements; analyses of such agreements or negotiations.
D. Comcast’s Current and Forward-Looking Business Strategies and Plans: Information relating to current and forward-looking business strategies and marketing plans, including detailed business models, projections and plans relating to the proposed Comcast-NBCU joint venture.
E. Comcast Advertising Sales, Financial and Operating Results: Detailed information regarding advertising revenues and expenses, including expenses relating to the development of advanced advertising platforms, disaggregated by business unit and type of expense.
F. NBCU’s Video Programming and Carriage Agreement Terms and Conditions: Information relating to the details of video programming and carriage agreements, including linear carriage agreements, video-on-demand agreements, and online distribution agreements, including information regarding the details of the negotiation for such agreements; analyses of such agreements or negotiations.
G. NBCU’s Current and Forward-Looking Business Strategies and Plans: Information relating to current and forward-looking business strategies and marketing plans, including detailed business models and projections, and plans relating to the proposed Comcast-NBCU joint venture.
H. NBCU’s Detailed Financial Data: Detailed information regarding advertising sales, financial, and operating results, including projected advertising sales revenue for 2010 disaggregated by channel, programming genre, and distribution platform; detailed income, cash flow, and operating metrics, and other similar financial data disaggregated by time period and source, for recent or current time periods.
I. NBCU’s Detailed Online Viewership Information: Information relating to the details of online viewership of video programming, including the name of the program, the type of program, whether it was Internet-exclusive, the number of times each program was viewed, the total length of each program, and the advertising model associated with each program.
