Genachowski, Varney to Testify At Commerce Hearing on Competition and Comcast/NBCU

The Senate Commerce Committee
has snagged both FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Assistant Attorney General
for Antitrust Christine Varney for its hearing March 11 on consumers, competition
and consolidation in the broadband market, the hearing formerly known as the Comcast/NBCUdeal hearing. 

Genachowski and Varney will
be on a first panel to discuss the regulatory process. They can't discuss the
Comcast/NBC U deal particulars since its review is before both of them.

The second panel of the
hearing will be headlined by Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts. NBCU President
Jeff Zucker, who has teamed with Roberts on the other three Hill hearings on
the deal, was not on the list, as reported yesterday by B&C.

Also weighing in will be Mark
Cooper of Consumer Federation of America, who testified in earlier hearings in
opposition to the deal, as well as Writers Guild President John Wells, Colleen
Abdoullah of WOW! Internet, and law professor Christopher Yoo.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.