PHILADELPHIA — The Federal Communications Commission on Friday pushed back its deadline to review two proposed mergers — Comcast Corp. with Time Warner Cable Inc., and AT&T Inc. with DirecTV.
The FCC’s informal 180-day clock to finish both reviews would have expired this month, but the agency said it wanted to see the results of a pending federal court action involving CBS Corp. and other programmers that have collectively sued to keep contracts confidential during the FCC review.
“In reaching this conclusion, the (FCC) reserves the right to restart the clock as it believes will best serve the public interest and it intends to provide further guidance as it becomes appropriate,” the agency said in a statement.
Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said Friday, “The FCC appears to be making significant progress in the review of our transaction. … The comment cycle is complete, the economists have all weighed in, and the parties have responded to all of the FCC’s requests for information. We look forward to working with the government to complete the regulatory review process.”
A recent Comcast filing at the FCC indicated that company officials discussed the merger with 41 government officials Tuesday.
