Ric Keller, R-Fla. — who said he remains neutral on the merger — tried to get Karmazin to be specific on what kind of “price hold” window he would agree to, in order to get the deal approved. Mel wasn’t specific other than to say sometime between two to four years.
However, after repeatedly stating to committee members that the resulting company would not be a monopoly and that it would be bad for business to raise prices after the merger, Mel got a little testy. At one point he said, “We are not making a failing company argument. (This) doesn’t have to be approved.”
Mel also said he would agree to a condition that the merged company would not have any local programming, such as traffic or weather. Sohn said she couldn’t believe he would agree to that and sided with Rehr, who had said earlier that, “Karmazin would say almost anything to get his merger.”
Karmazin, judging by his tone, clearly was ticked off at that reference and sought to refute it.
