Activist groups, including Free Press, Media Access Project and Consumers Union, in a letter, have asked the Federal Communications Commission to hold public hearings on the proposed Comcast/NBC merger, B&C reports.

The FCC has almost never scheduled such hearings, instead relying on written comments and replies for public input, an FCC spokesman was quoted as saying in the article.

In the letter, the groups said they had concern that the FCC hadn’t yet released a schedule for public hearings "despite FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s pledge to increase public participation in agency matters." The letter comes after the FCC earlier this week denied a petition from Pan-Asian group the Mabuhay Alliance, which asked the commission to delay its review until it held separate hearings on how the deal would impact minorities, the article says.