Comcast wants to get bigger, again, has begun talks with 21st Century Fox

Comcast and Verizon have each, separately, approached 21st Century Fox about buying part of the company, according to several news reports.

Comcast already owns NBCUniversal and numerous regional sports networks. Adding part of 21st Century Fox would give Comcast even more programming to pair with the nation's largest cable broadband and TV network.

21st Century Fox owns Fox Broadcasting Company as well as various cable networks, broadcast stations, and film producers and distributors. 21st Century Fox also owns 39 percent of Sky, a European broadcaster.

"Comcast is interested in the same set of assets that Disney approached Fox about earlier this year," CNBC wrote, citing anonymous sources.

Those Fox assets include "the 20th Century Fox studio, some US cable networks, and the international business, but not Fox News, the Fox broadcast network, or [Fox] sports channels," The Wall Street Journal reported.

US law prevents any of the Big Four networks from merging with each other, so Comcast would not be able to own both NBC and Fox.

Verizon approached 21st Century Fox about buying the same assets, Reuters reported. Verizon previously beefed up its media holdings with acquisitions of AOL in 2015 and Yahoo's operating business in 2017.

Verizon's interest in 21st Century Fox assets is "in the early stages," the Journal wrote. "It is possible other players are in pursuit of Fox," the newspaper added.

Antitrust hurdle

Comcast in particular might have a difficult time getting government approval to buy 21st Century Fox assets. The Department of Justice is reviewing AT&T's proposed purchase of Time Warner Inc., it and has reportedly told AT&T that it must sell off either CNN or DirecTV in order to win government approval of their merger.

The antitrust concerns for a Comcast/21st Century Fox deal would be similar to the concerns about AT&T and Time Warner. Greater control over both programming and distribution could give a larger Comcast incentive to favor its own content at the expense of other companies that want to distribute programming to Comcast subscribers. A larger Comcast could also make it more expensive for other Internet and TV providers to carry Comcast-owned programming.

Comcast was allowed to buy NBCUniversal in 2011 despite these problems. But "one reason antitrust enforcers are skeptical about the AT&T deal is that they believe Comcast hasn't lived up to the spirit of the conditions regulators put on that 2011 deal," the Journal wrote.

Mergers will likely get less scrutiny at the Federal Communications Commission, which has been eliminating rules that prevent media consolidation.

We contacted Comcast and will provide an update if the company responds.