JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: And now to the mega-merger plans of Internet giant American Online and Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. It could vastly change the entertainment and information you get at your home, office or movie theater, and that has some consumers and companies worried. A public hearing on the merger is about to start here in Washington. And CNN national correspondent Bob Franken is there with more -- Bob.</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Jeanne, among the first witnesses will be the CEOs of the two companies, Gerald Levin and Steve Case, who will argue that, as big as this is, this is a merger whose time has come. The time is new age, an age that is unknown, really, what it's going to produce as the technology of delivering media, various media, now expands to the Internet -- and the old media, the combination of cable TV, which not so long ago was new media, it also, of course, includes broadcast, all the entertainment factors and its combination with the Worldwide Web. So many issues, particularly the complaint that there is a concentration of power. Later in the day, there will be witnesses from competitors who say that they could be shut out of all this if Time Warner and AOL, in fact, take control of this new technology. Among them, Preston Padden, who has led the fight for Disney-ABC. ABC is just one of two entities that in fact filed a petition saying that before this can go forward, the FCC has to set up strict conditions; conditions that would require that competitors have access to this technology AOL and Time Warner say that this is something that would be taken care of in the marketplace. Bob Franken, CNN, live, Washington.
Public Hearing on AOL-Time Warner Merger Plans Set to Open Today