- The Justice Dept. is looking into whether Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is violating antitrust law with its practices in the cable ad-sales market, The Wall Street Journal reports.
- The probe examines the $5B market and whether Comcast is engaging in "monopolization or attempted monopolization” of spot sales in Comcast service locations, as well as whether the company's deals with rivals amount to restraint of trade.
- The investigation is in early stages, the paper reports, but the government has requested information from companies in the market including Comcast.
- Comcast says the market is "robustly competitive," that local cable ads are only 7% of local ad sales due to competitive media including radio and broadcast TV, and that it will cooperate fully with the probe.