ComcastNBCLike, duh. But Broadcasting & Cable claims that NBC affiliates association board chairman Brian Lawlor and past chairman Michael Fiorile engaged Comcast COO Steve Burke and others at the Philadelphia headquarters in some “tough negotiating” over key points and protections on broadcast vs cable issues. “The affiliates wanted assurances that Comcast would remain committed to over the air television, and would keep the same amount of sports programming on NBC and not shift it to cable,” B&C says. “The affiliates also wanted what one insider termed a ‘firewall’ between retransmission consent negotiations and affiliate renewals if and when Comcast takes over.” After the meeting, the affils agreed to file the letter before the FCC deadline of Monday for public comments on the merger.

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