Comcast Corp., with cable-TV and broadband operations throughout Connecticut, spent $3.1 million in the first quarter lobbying on its acquisition of a controlling stake in NBC Universal, retransmission consent, network management and other issues, The Associated Press reports, citing a disclosure report.
That’s up from the $2.76 million the nation’s largest cable TV company spent in the year-ago quarter but down from the fourth quarter’s $3.5 million.
Philadelphia-based Comcast is seeking regulatory approval for its purchase of a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co.
The deal, though opposed by consumer groups and subjected to congressional hearings, is expected to close by year’s end because there’s little overlap of operations between Comcast and NBC, which owns WVIT Channel 30 in West Hartford.
Comcast also lobbied Congress on cable ownership issues, carriage of independent programming, set-top boxes, sports programming, and others in the January to March period, according to the form filed on April 20 in the House clerk’s office.
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