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Media Monsters Threaten Net Freedom
Comcast, the nation's biggest cable and broadband Internet company, has plans to take over NBC Universal.
The result would be a new kind of media monster that would not only produce some of America's most popular entertainment but also control viewers' access to it.
Dec 07, 2009
Comcast, the nation's biggest cable and broadband Internet company, has plans to take over NBC Universal.
The result would be a new kind of media monster that would not only produce some of America's most popular entertainment but also control viewers' access to it.
Under the deal, which has been in the works for months, Comcast would pay $6.5 billion in cash up front and contribute $7.25 billion in cable assets to acquire a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal from its current owner, General Electric. Comcast would control the joint venture's day-to-day operations but Pentagon contractor GE would retain a 49 percent stake.
The likely impact on consumer choices? Well you tell me: the Washington Post reports that all in all, the joint venture would control more than one out of every five television-viewing hours.
The $30 billion deal certainly has consumer groups and lawmakers worried. Will there be a big regulatory battle? Congress doesn't have a great record. In 1996, a Democratic President OK'd the last great concentration of media power under the generous terms of the '96 Telecommunications Act.
Nonetheless, with almost one in four cable subscribers in the U.S. a Comcast customer and NBC Universal owning not only NBC but also dozens of cable channels, including Telemundo, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo as well as theme parks, TV stations such as Washington's WRC (Channel 4), and Universal movie studios, the NBC Comcast deal is a biggie.
Senators John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), of the Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, have called for hearings. Michael J. Copps, a Democratic member of the Federal Communications Commission, says the merger faces a "very steep climb" with him.
High on the list of critics' concerns are worries about the impact on online video. Would Comcast/NBC continue to make other companies' video available free, on their internet providers? Why would they? Only if government enforces Net Neutrality. In other words, only if there's a law.
In the meantime, it's time to cherish ever more all that remains in the way of independent media. And yes, that's our self interest speaking.
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© 2023 Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
Comcast, the nation's biggest cable and broadband Internet company, has plans to take over NBC Universal.
The result would be a new kind of media monster that would not only produce some of America's most popular entertainment but also control viewers' access to it.
Under the deal, which has been in the works for months, Comcast would pay $6.5 billion in cash up front and contribute $7.25 billion in cable assets to acquire a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal from its current owner, General Electric. Comcast would control the joint venture's day-to-day operations but Pentagon contractor GE would retain a 49 percent stake.
The likely impact on consumer choices? Well you tell me: the Washington Post reports that all in all, the joint venture would control more than one out of every five television-viewing hours.
The $30 billion deal certainly has consumer groups and lawmakers worried. Will there be a big regulatory battle? Congress doesn't have a great record. In 1996, a Democratic President OK'd the last great concentration of media power under the generous terms of the '96 Telecommunications Act.
Nonetheless, with almost one in four cable subscribers in the U.S. a Comcast customer and NBC Universal owning not only NBC but also dozens of cable channels, including Telemundo, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo as well as theme parks, TV stations such as Washington's WRC (Channel 4), and Universal movie studios, the NBC Comcast deal is a biggie.
Senators John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), of the Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, have called for hearings. Michael J. Copps, a Democratic member of the Federal Communications Commission, says the merger faces a "very steep climb" with him.
High on the list of critics' concerns are worries about the impact on online video. Would Comcast/NBC continue to make other companies' video available free, on their internet providers? Why would they? Only if government enforces Net Neutrality. In other words, only if there's a law.
In the meantime, it's time to cherish ever more all that remains in the way of independent media. And yes, that's our self interest speaking.
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
Comcast, the nation's biggest cable and broadband Internet company, has plans to take over NBC Universal.
The result would be a new kind of media monster that would not only produce some of America's most popular entertainment but also control viewers' access to it.
Under the deal, which has been in the works for months, Comcast would pay $6.5 billion in cash up front and contribute $7.25 billion in cable assets to acquire a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal from its current owner, General Electric. Comcast would control the joint venture's day-to-day operations but Pentagon contractor GE would retain a 49 percent stake.
The likely impact on consumer choices? Well you tell me: the Washington Post reports that all in all, the joint venture would control more than one out of every five television-viewing hours.
The $30 billion deal certainly has consumer groups and lawmakers worried. Will there be a big regulatory battle? Congress doesn't have a great record. In 1996, a Democratic President OK'd the last great concentration of media power under the generous terms of the '96 Telecommunications Act.
Nonetheless, with almost one in four cable subscribers in the U.S. a Comcast customer and NBC Universal owning not only NBC but also dozens of cable channels, including Telemundo, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo as well as theme parks, TV stations such as Washington's WRC (Channel 4), and Universal movie studios, the NBC Comcast deal is a biggie.
Senators John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), of the Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, have called for hearings. Michael J. Copps, a Democratic member of the Federal Communications Commission, says the merger faces a "very steep climb" with him.
High on the list of critics' concerns are worries about the impact on online video. Would Comcast/NBC continue to make other companies' video available free, on their internet providers? Why would they? Only if government enforces Net Neutrality. In other words, only if there's a law.
In the meantime, it's time to cherish ever more all that remains in the way of independent media. And yes, that's our self interest speaking.
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