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Mega-Mega-Merger: Meet the New Media Monopoly
With Comcast's takeover of NBC, the era of the mega-mega-merger is upon us.
Jan 24, 2011
For more than a century, American law has recognized the destructive
power of corporate monopolies. When one company controls an entire
resource, means of production, or delivery system for products, it gets
an unfair advantage over competitors. It can overcharge them out of
existence or drive them into bankruptcy. Since Teddy Roosevelt's
presidency, our government has tried to ensure that monopolistic
business practices don't destroy fair pricing and consumer choice.
Then how can it justify the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal,
which the Federal Communications Commission approved on January 18? The
FCC is supposed to reject any media merger that doesn't advance the
public interest. But Comcast's takeover of NBC will give one
mega-corporation control of too much of what we watch and how we watch
it.
The deal creates not just a new media behemoth with the ability to
throttle competition and stifle innovation, but a completely new model
for media organizations and how they operate. Where Comcast and NBC go
today, AT&T, Verizon, Disney, Time Warner, and Viacom are soon to
follow. The era of the mega-mega-merger is upon us.
Comcast is already the country's largest cable and home broadband
provider. The new Comcast will own production, content, and distribution
for local television stations, national networks broadcasting in
English and Spanish, and numerous cable channels and movie studios. One
company will soon account for 20 percent of all network and cable TV
viewing hours.
That should worry you.
Why? Because when one company, motivated solely by profit, can choose
what news to cover and how to cover it, you may not be getting the full
story. When it can exclude competing ideas or perspectives, whether for
political or economic reasons, you may be denied a full hearing on the
issues. And that's bad for democracy.
Want to see what this looks like in action? Search MSNBC's website
for its coverage of the controversy surrounding the merger. If you look
very closely, you might find a short blurb from Fort Wayne, Indiana,
that mentions consumer concerns in passing. NBC Nightly News reported
the deal, but anchor Brian Williams failed to mention the intense
opposition to the merger or the serious concerns about it.
If a media company can keep opposing views off your TV and computer screens, you'll never know any different.
Comcast has a history of using its control over cable and the
Internet to bottleneck information and cripple competitors. The company
has already been caught blocking the legal file sharing of such things
as barbershop quartet music and the King James Bible. More recently,
it's been accused of deliberately congesting its broadband network to
slow down content delivery and of raising fees for such competitors as
Netflix who deliver online video to their customers. Now, with a slew of
popular NBC programs in its hands and the accompanying leverage, what's
to stop Comcast from doing even worse?
The FCC and the Justice Department imposed temporary conditions to
make the merger more palatable, but there's not enough sugar to sweeten
this rotten deal. And the conditions, inadequate to begin with, are only
as strong as the FCC's willingness to enforce them. The agency's
hands-off approach to the biggest media merger in recent memory isn't a
good sign. There are plenty of laws against one thing or another, but
without a cop on the beat, what good are they?
Monopolies are dangerous. We can expect corporations to be concerned
only with padding their bottom line, regardless of the public good. But
when regulators like the FCC become more concerned with pleasing
corporations than protecting the public, we're all in big trouble.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
For more than a century, American law has recognized the destructive
power of corporate monopolies. When one company controls an entire
resource, means of production, or delivery system for products, it gets
an unfair advantage over competitors. It can overcharge them out of
existence or drive them into bankruptcy. Since Teddy Roosevelt's
presidency, our government has tried to ensure that monopolistic
business practices don't destroy fair pricing and consumer choice.
Then how can it justify the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal,
which the Federal Communications Commission approved on January 18? The
FCC is supposed to reject any media merger that doesn't advance the
public interest. But Comcast's takeover of NBC will give one
mega-corporation control of too much of what we watch and how we watch
it.
The deal creates not just a new media behemoth with the ability to
throttle competition and stifle innovation, but a completely new model
for media organizations and how they operate. Where Comcast and NBC go
today, AT&T, Verizon, Disney, Time Warner, and Viacom are soon to
follow. The era of the mega-mega-merger is upon us.
Comcast is already the country's largest cable and home broadband
provider. The new Comcast will own production, content, and distribution
for local television stations, national networks broadcasting in
English and Spanish, and numerous cable channels and movie studios. One
company will soon account for 20 percent of all network and cable TV
viewing hours.
That should worry you.
Why? Because when one company, motivated solely by profit, can choose
what news to cover and how to cover it, you may not be getting the full
story. When it can exclude competing ideas or perspectives, whether for
political or economic reasons, you may be denied a full hearing on the
issues. And that's bad for democracy.
Want to see what this looks like in action? Search MSNBC's website
for its coverage of the controversy surrounding the merger. If you look
very closely, you might find a short blurb from Fort Wayne, Indiana,
that mentions consumer concerns in passing. NBC Nightly News reported
the deal, but anchor Brian Williams failed to mention the intense
opposition to the merger or the serious concerns about it.
If a media company can keep opposing views off your TV and computer screens, you'll never know any different.
Comcast has a history of using its control over cable and the
Internet to bottleneck information and cripple competitors. The company
has already been caught blocking the legal file sharing of such things
as barbershop quartet music and the King James Bible. More recently,
it's been accused of deliberately congesting its broadband network to
slow down content delivery and of raising fees for such competitors as
Netflix who deliver online video to their customers. Now, with a slew of
popular NBC programs in its hands and the accompanying leverage, what's
to stop Comcast from doing even worse?
The FCC and the Justice Department imposed temporary conditions to
make the merger more palatable, but there's not enough sugar to sweeten
this rotten deal. And the conditions, inadequate to begin with, are only
as strong as the FCC's willingness to enforce them. The agency's
hands-off approach to the biggest media merger in recent memory isn't a
good sign. There are plenty of laws against one thing or another, but
without a cop on the beat, what good are they?
Monopolies are dangerous. We can expect corporations to be concerned
only with padding their bottom line, regardless of the public good. But
when regulators like the FCC become more concerned with pleasing
corporations than protecting the public, we're all in big trouble.
For more than a century, American law has recognized the destructive
power of corporate monopolies. When one company controls an entire
resource, means of production, or delivery system for products, it gets
an unfair advantage over competitors. It can overcharge them out of
existence or drive them into bankruptcy. Since Teddy Roosevelt's
presidency, our government has tried to ensure that monopolistic
business practices don't destroy fair pricing and consumer choice.
Then how can it justify the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal,
which the Federal Communications Commission approved on January 18? The
FCC is supposed to reject any media merger that doesn't advance the
public interest. But Comcast's takeover of NBC will give one
mega-corporation control of too much of what we watch and how we watch
it.
The deal creates not just a new media behemoth with the ability to
throttle competition and stifle innovation, but a completely new model
for media organizations and how they operate. Where Comcast and NBC go
today, AT&T, Verizon, Disney, Time Warner, and Viacom are soon to
follow. The era of the mega-mega-merger is upon us.
Comcast is already the country's largest cable and home broadband
provider. The new Comcast will own production, content, and distribution
for local television stations, national networks broadcasting in
English and Spanish, and numerous cable channels and movie studios. One
company will soon account for 20 percent of all network and cable TV
viewing hours.
That should worry you.
Why? Because when one company, motivated solely by profit, can choose
what news to cover and how to cover it, you may not be getting the full
story. When it can exclude competing ideas or perspectives, whether for
political or economic reasons, you may be denied a full hearing on the
issues. And that's bad for democracy.
Want to see what this looks like in action? Search MSNBC's website
for its coverage of the controversy surrounding the merger. If you look
very closely, you might find a short blurb from Fort Wayne, Indiana,
that mentions consumer concerns in passing. NBC Nightly News reported
the deal, but anchor Brian Williams failed to mention the intense
opposition to the merger or the serious concerns about it.
If a media company can keep opposing views off your TV and computer screens, you'll never know any different.
Comcast has a history of using its control over cable and the
Internet to bottleneck information and cripple competitors. The company
has already been caught blocking the legal file sharing of such things
as barbershop quartet music and the King James Bible. More recently,
it's been accused of deliberately congesting its broadband network to
slow down content delivery and of raising fees for such competitors as
Netflix who deliver online video to their customers. Now, with a slew of
popular NBC programs in its hands and the accompanying leverage, what's
to stop Comcast from doing even worse?
The FCC and the Justice Department imposed temporary conditions to
make the merger more palatable, but there's not enough sugar to sweeten
this rotten deal. And the conditions, inadequate to begin with, are only
as strong as the FCC's willingness to enforce them. The agency's
hands-off approach to the biggest media merger in recent memory isn't a
good sign. There are plenty of laws against one thing or another, but
without a cop on the beat, what good are they?
Monopolies are dangerous. We can expect corporations to be concerned
only with padding their bottom line, regardless of the public good. But
when regulators like the FCC become more concerned with pleasing
corporations than protecting the public, we're all in big trouble.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.