Senate Commerce and Appropriations Committee staffers will have t...

Senate Commerce and Appropriations Committee staffers will have to wait for answers from FTC and Dept. of Justice (DoJ) on plan floated recently to give DoJ greater oversight of media merger reviews. Aide to Sen. Hollings (D-S.C.), who is chmn. of both Commerce Committee and Appropriations Commerce Subcommittee on Justice, State and Judiciary, said Senate staffers presented questions and requested data from DoJ at closed meeting Jan. 24. However, “many” of those questions remain unanswered and further meetings with DoJ as well as FTC staff are on horizon, he said. DoJ staffers reportedly admitted they hadn’t consulted with consumer groups before proposing changes in merger review process and didn’t present statistical data that would demonstrate respective entity’s antitrust expertise, Hollings spokesman said. DoJ had no comment by our Fri. deadline. Meanwhile, Alliance for Community Media Exec. Dir. Bunnie Riedel urged Hollings Thurs. to preserve FTC’s role in media merger reviews, saying public interest would be harmed if role were diminished: “Under the proposed agreement, [FTC] no longer would have authority on antitrust issues concerning cable, television and Internet issues. The [FTC] is an independent, nonpartisan body as opposed to [DoJ] where there are administration appointees.” She said proposed mergers of AT&T Broadband with Comcast and EchoStar with DirecTV were prime examples of “disturbing trend” in telecom industry that required preservation of FTC’s public interest responsibilities.