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Coalition Urges FCC to Block Proposed Merger of Comcast-NBC
WASHINGTON - A coalition of media
companies, unions and nonprofits is urging the Federal Communications
Commission to block the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal.
The coalition, made up of organizations including media giant Bloomberg, the Writers Guild of America, West and advocacy groups like Free Press and Media Access Project, wrote to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Monday voicing their opposition to the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC-Universal.
Monday is the last day for organizations to submit public comment to the FCC on the proposed merger, which would create a new $30 billion joint venture merging the Philadelphia cable giant's content division with NBC Universal's (NBCU) stable of television networks, film studios and theme parks. Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, (R-Calif.), David Paterson, (D-N.Y.) and Ed Rendell (D-Pa.) have expressed support for the merger.
The groups argue the new entity would have unprecedented control over the country's media landscape, raising antitrust concerns.
"The proposed merger of Comcast and NBC-Universal is poised to fundamentally alter the landscape of the U.S. media market," the letter states. "We are a group of varied organizations with many specific concerns with this merger, but we have joined together because the threat of this merger to consumers is so great."
"As filed," it goes on, "we oppose this merger."
According to the letter, the new entity created by the merger would include the largest cable company, the largest residential broadband Internet service provider, the owner of one of the four national broadcast networks, several prominent local stations, cable networks and some of the most popular websites.
This would give the company "a degree of market power unrivaled in our nation's media history," the letter claims.
Comcast executive vice president for public policy David Cohen responded to criticism of the deal Monday afternoon in a lengthy blog post citing the numerous elected officials, advocacy groups and labor organizations that have endorsed the merger. He also indicated that many critics are motivated by business interests, not concern for consumers.
"It is important to keep in mind as you read the comments from opponents of this transaction that the businesses in which Comcast operates in today – distribution, programming, online, high-speed Internet, and voice — are all fiercely competitive," Cohen writes.
"Comcast and NBCU don’t compete against each other in most segments of the market, so there is no new concentration. There are no cable systems involved in this deal, so Comcast’s distribution platform will not grow."
“If the Comcast-NBC deal goes through, it would be one of the largest media mergers in a generation, leaving Americans with even higher cable bills and fewer diverse, independent choices on the dial," said Free Press President Josh Silver. "Approval of the deal would be business as usual in Washington, letting the largest companies have their way at the public’s expense."
Silver said the deal is particularly bad for consumers in the 12 markets where Comcast is the leading cable and broadband Internet provider and NBC has a local TV station, including Washington, D.C. He also warned the deal could threaten the viability of online video sites like Hulu.com, claiming Comcast could prioritize its own online content in violation of the principle of net neutrality.
Sen. Herb Kohl, (D-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights, wrote to the FCC last month asking the commission to impose a host of conditions on the deal, including a promise from Comcast not to discriminate against content from other networks.
The full list of organizations that co-signed the letter follows:
Bloomberg LP
Common Cause
Communications Workers of America
Free Press
Media Access Project
The National Association of Independent Networks
The National Coalition of African-American Owned Media
National Consumers League
The Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies
National Telecommunications Cooperative Association
Public Knowledge
WealthTV
Writers Guild of America, West
11 Comments so far
Show AllAnd all Comcast or NBC has to do to completely neutralize the other side, no matter how worthy its arguments or legitimate its concerns is stuff some money into a few politician's shirts. Done deal.
The public can stop the merger -- if we increase the pressure right up through the vote. In fact this can be the big turning point where the public regains control, and starts to reverse decades of media concentration and corporate control of information.
The next step is to make a free and open internet available to everyone. Internet access for all is a necessity of modern life, essential for democracy and national prosperity. No person or corporation should own or control the internet in any way. Gigabit internet access must become a birthright of every US citizen.
Thanks for the comprehensive information breakdown, Miggy.
/cm
"The Public can stop the merger"
I sure wish I had that confidence....
I haven't seen the public be able to stop anything,
no matter how hard the public has tried, I am not blaming
the public, just that all the petic, phone calling, letters
, hasn't worked yet.
Its like Bob Dylan told us nearly a half century ago:
"Money doesn't talk, it swears"
It certainly appears to me that, by the sheer size and scope of the holdings of the corporations who are in favor of this merger, quite simply states the case for not approving it.
They have already violated the intent of the Founding Fathers that the Fourth Estate should be free and independent in order to serve its basic function as a watch dog on government. No amount of bull crap thrown in the face of John Q. Public by these corporations can erase that inescapable fact.
When the media giants are already in bed with the government, where is one to find the objectivity that was intended? The last vestigial remnant of that spirit vanished when Bill Moyers closed the door for the final time on Bill Moyer's Journal when he left PBS. We cannot allow that vacuum to be filled by these vultures of greed and the power that comes with it.
"We cannot allow that vacuum [Bill Moyers "retirement"] to be filled by these vultures of greed and the power that comes with it."
Sorry, pioagape. These "vultures" have been in control since after Watergate and the end of the Vietnam War and the Hippie & other Revolutionary uprisings, and with Walter Cronkite's somewhat forced retirement from the anchor chair and from his still functioning roles as a national & international reporter/journalist for CBS. Walter was offered a mega-money contract by CBS when he was still several years away from retirement age, and this offer sounded good to him. He was told that he would be doing all kinds of news specials and documentaries with major input from him, in exchange for his leaving the news anchor chair. In an autobiographical book he wrote, Walter stated that he thought CBS meant it, so he signed the contract, but then he was assigned to little that was important and he didn't have much of a say. In short, the CBS network got rid of a very "dangerous" man because he was so popular and trusted and had a habit of speaking and writing the truth.
By the way, PBS has some new, healthy $upport from the George W. Bush Foundation which will be funding/controlling various news programs and documentaries. Ohhhh ...
Our public information has been tweaked, distorted, eliminated in so many ways for years and years now, and be assured that another Bill Moyers or Walter Cronkite are not going to be part of our lives until something gives or is overthrown.
We are a Corporate Fascist state/a Kleptocracy -- whatever you want to call it, but Democracy as a process representing the people of this nation, other than at local levels, is GONE! except for all the hoopla and window-dressing of Conventions presenting candidates who have received the mega-money to run for office and have been approved by the POWERS THAT BE. And most people still are under the illusion that we're choosing OUR candidates of choice to hold high office. NOT!!!!
When George W. Bush was selected by the Supreme Court of the United States to be the president, that was the [planned] death knell for our democratic process, and year after year since then the BELL TOLLS and TOLLS and TOLLS for all that has died or is dying in a functioning democracy, including millions of people across the globe and thousands and thousands of our own young, brain-washed soldiers.
If the "emergency powers" Obama has asked for "to shut down the internet" from Congress in case of "cyber attacks" by "enemies" or for dire national emergencies are granted to the president/presidency [maybe that little item passed already in other legislation when I wasn't looking a couple of months or so ago], we won't be writing like this on sites called Common Dreams et al.
The FCC was being manipulated by various appointees prior to GW, but certainly afterwards big time.
All of our so-called "independent agencies" to protect the rights of the people are just about all gone because those appointed to run them are working for "the Bosses." Haven't you noticed?
... anyway. Bill Moyers is a great man. We will not soon seen the likes of him again for a long, long time ... because it won't be permitted.
/cm
I could not agree with you more. The mere fact that we have no draft so all the youth of this country share equally in our wars says it all. The poor go off to war, do the same job as Blackwater and get paid a pitance for their sacrifice. They send their meager earnings home to help support their families. Blackwater takes their fortunes and laces the pockets of the political establishment that help them thrive and prosper.
In the meantime, the oligarchs continue to endow their private universities with mega bucks, their progeny go off to be educated and indoctrinated in the values of the super rich, and prepare them to preserve the two-class system of indentured servitude that is the permanent niche for the Middle Class. Contrast that with the plight of the public schools, colleges and universities that die a slow, agonizing death because of lack of funding. All, thanks to a corrupt White House, Congress, Wall Street, Health Care and the Military-Industrial Complex.
This, folks, is the "Change We Can Believe In."
Ilof Musich
I agree 100% with pioagape...
It's the same old story - power and greed...or greed and power - the banks that got too big to fail...the Madoff that got to big to get caught... Enron... AgraBusinesses so huge that, like the Mcdonald's Corporation, no one can bring them under control. And then we have the media conglomerates. When will we have another Bill Moyers, a voice of reason crying from the wilderness, to bring sanity back to America. That is a rhetorical question and I don't expect an answer. We don't even have a Supreme court that will buck Monsanto in the famous alfalfa seed controversy. That coalition has some pretty influential names in it... I wish them good luck.
I have Comcast BB and they have done a tap dance since they bought Insight, and have almost suceeded in raising BB $15, to $60 for their slowest service. Over the past 2 years they would increase my bill and say that I had signed up for a promotional service and it was over. I have never signed up for a promotion. Yesterday, I did sign up for a promotion, to keep my current rate. My local telephone company, Smithville, is in the process of installing fiber optics cable. I have hopes of switching over to them for my phone and BB, very soon!