The NetCoalition, which represents Google, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, Bloomberg and IAC/Interactive Corp on Monday joined the Coalition for Competition in Media, which opposes the Comcast-NBCU merger as it’s currently proposed.
The deal is close to getting finalized, and according to Mediaweek, could be approved by the end of the year. Confident that’s the case, Comcast has already named its new executive management structure.
But opposition to the merger continues to mount from a wide range of public interest groups, who are concerned that the deal will create a huge media monopoly that will translate to higher costs for consumers, and that the merged company will lack diversity. The NetCoalition’s executive director insists “this merger will create a vertically and horizontally integrated media behemoth that will smother competition, diminish choice and reduce broadband network investment.”
In a statement, Comcast downplayed the NetCoalition’s move to oppose the merger and brushed off their concerns arguing the merger will affect “only a small part of the broadband access market and online content marketplace” blaming the noise on a “small number of self-interested competitors.,” insisting the deal will benefit consumers.