• by David Goetzl , August 11, 2010

The company behind a Washington-area local news channel has lobbed an objection to the proposed Comcast-NBC Universal venture, suggesting the move could "eliminate" what has been known as NewsChannel 8 as a viable competitor.

In a letter to the FCC, Allbritton Communications hints Comcast is looking to rig carriage negotiations for both NewsChannel 8 and the six ABC stations it owns in order to "devalue the news channel, rendering it financially non-viable."

Comcast plans on filing a responding letter on Thursday.

For years, Comcast has cut deals with Allbritton covering both payments for NewsChannel 8 and retransmission consent for the ABC stations. The deals were of the traditional variety, where essentially carriage of the stations was gratis in exchange for higher fees for the cable channel.

But with retrans payments emerging as a lucrative way for station groups to collect money, Allbritton now appears to want separate deals for NewsChannel 8 and the ABC stations, which are in Washington, Harrisburg, Pa., Tulsa, OK, and three other markets.

NewsChannel 8 this week was re-branded as TBD TV.

The current Comcast-Allbritton deal runs another 17 months. But in the FCC letter, Allbritton writes Comcast insists on "packaging" deals for NewsChannel 8 with the ABC outlets.

Allbritton adds that a new Comcast, which would own the NBC station in Washington (WRC), "will have both the ability and incentive to eliminate NewsChannel 8 as a competitive threat."

In New York, the NBCU-owned station has launched a 24-hour news channel that competes with outlets owned by Time Warner Cable and Cablevision. Allbritton figures if NBCU does the same in Washington, the company could have an incentive to drive down fees for NewsChannel 8.

Comcast is the dominant multichannel video distributor in the Washington market, the country's ninth-largest.

A Comcast rep said: "We feel we've been a good partner to Allbritton and their stations over the years."

Curiously, Allbritton is protesting the merger even as the ABC affiliates group has brokered a deal with Comcast that includes approving the venture as long as Comcast commits to keeping retrans negotiations separate from NBCU operations.

Allbritton's entire six-station portfolio is linked with ABC.

Allbritton, in its FCC letter, wants merger conditions that ensure NewsChannel 8 continues to receive affiliate fees at "marketplace rates."

The media company has been running ads against the Comcast-NBCU merger in Washington-area outlets it owns, including inside-the-Beltway trade publication Politico.