Author Topic: FCC give goahead for Comcast-NBC merger. (Read 774 times)

Sirrus · January 18, 2011, 05:19:27 PM

End of net neutrality? Not quite, perhaps. Read more, and if you have more info on this topic, please discuse. I'd like to know more about this.

Quote from: copypasta from AP

WASHINGTON -- The federal government on Tuesday gave Comcast, the country's largest cable company, approval to take over NBC Universal, home of the NBC television network.

Comcast is buying a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal from General Electric for $13.8 billion in cash and assets.

The Justice Department said it reached a settlement with Comcast and NBC Universal that allows the companies to proceed with the deal, subject to some conditions.
The five-member Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday voted 4-1 to approve the deal. Michael Copps, one of the commission's three Democrats and an opponent of media consolidation, voted against the deal.

With the transaction certain to transform the entertainment industry landscape, both the FCC and Justice Department are attaching conditions to prevent Comcast from trampling competitors once it takes control of NBC's vast media empire.

Among other things, they're requiring Comcast to make NBC programming available to competitors including rival cable companies, satellite operators and new Internet video services that could pose a threat to Comcast's core cable business. Regulators want to ensure that emerging online video platforms being developed by companies such as Netflix, Amazon.com and Apple can get the movies and TV shows they need to grow -- and potentially offer a cheaper alternative to monthly cable subscriptions.

Philadelphia-based Comcast has about 23 million cable TV subscribers and nearly 17 million Internet subscribers. It also owns a handful of cable channels, including E! Entertainment and the Golf Channel, and has a controlling interest in the Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers sports teams. Comcast's SportsNet Philadelphia channel carries Flyers, Phillies and 76ers games.

Taking over NBC will transform the company into a media powerhouse. NBC Universal owns the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks; 26 local TV stations; popular cable channels including CNBC, Bravo and Oxygen; the Universal Pictures movie studio and theme parks; and a roughly 30 stake in Hulu.com, which distributes NBC and other broadcast programming online.

The regulatory approvals establish an arbitration process to resolve disputes between Comcast and competitors who want to buy programming. They prohibits Comcast from withholding programming during negotiations -- a practice that broadcasters have been using recently to extract higher fees from cable companies.

A handful of other conditions are designed to ensure that Comcast cannot stifle the growth of the fledgling Internet video market by starving the new industry for content. One requires the company to offer its programming to legitimate Internet video providers on the same terms and conditions that it offers other pay-TV providers. Another requires the company to make comparable programming available at comparable prices to an Internet video provider that has reached an agreement to buy programming from another media company.

Yet another condition requires Comcast to continue offering an affordable, standalone broadband option for customers who want Internet access but not TV service. This condition, too, is intended help drive the growth of online video by allowing consumers to cancel their cable subscriptions without losing their Internet connections.

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dkamm65 · January 18, 2011, 05:36:53 PM

Quote from: Freepress

WASHINGTON -- According to press reports on Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission announced its decision, by a vote of 4-1, to approve the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal, one of the largest media mergers in history. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Meredith Attwell Baker and Robert McDowell voted for the merger, while Commissioner Michael Copps dissented.

Tuesday�s vote will allow Comcast, the nation's largest cable and residential broadband provider, to take control of NBC Universal, a major content provider and the owner of national English- and Spanish-language broadcast networks, more than two dozen local TV stations, numerous cable news and entertainment channels, and movie studios. With the FCC's blessing, Comcast-NBC will now control one in every five television viewing hours.

The FCC endorsed the deal despite pledges by Barack Obama during the last presidential campaign to oppose greater media consolidation. In June 2008, President Obama said, �I strongly favor diversity of ownership of outlets and protection against the excessive concentration of power in the hands of any one corporation, interest or small group. I strongly believe that all citizens should be able to receive information from the broadest range of sources. I feel that media consolidation during the Bush administration has had the effect of eliminating a lot of the diversity of information sources available to persons who have to rely on more traditional information sources, such as radio and television broadcasts and newspapers.�

Free Press President and CEO Josh Silver made the following statement:

"Today�s decision by the FCC represents a failure of the agency to live up to its own public interest mandate, as well as Barack Obama�s promise to promote media diversity and prevent excessive media concentration. This deal will give Comcast unprecedented control over both media content and the physical network that delivers it. The FCC has opened Pandora�s Box, and we can soon expect a whole new swarm of mega-mergers that will have dire consequences for media and the Internet.

�Such power concentrated in the hands of a single company is deeply troubling. Access to information from a variety of independent sources is essential to an informed citizenry and a functioning democracy. While the FCC has adopted conditions, they are insufficient short-term or voluntary fixes that will fail to prevent permanent harm to competition, consumer choice and the future of the Internet. This deal will drive up cable and Internet costs for subscribers, while further eliminating diverse, independent media content that is already woefully lacking in the commercial media.

�We applaud Commissioner Michael Copps for taking a principled stand and refusing to sign off on this disastrous deal. But the approval of this merger represents yet another failure of the Obama administration to live up to the president�s promises to protect against media consolidation and ensure access to a broad range of diverse sources of news and information. Apparently, such promises aren�t worth much in the face of Comcast�s army of lobbyists, PR shops and generous campaign contributions. Today, Comcast has won the jackpot, and once again, it is the American people who will end up paying out.�

Quote from: Huffington Post

Today, the Federal Communications Commission blessed the merger of Comcast, the nation's largest cable and residential Internet provider, with NBC-Universal. The Justice Department immediately followed suit, removing the last obstacle to the unprecedented consolidation of media and Internet power in the hands of one company. (FCC press release here(pdf))

You should be afraid and mad as hell.

The new Comcast will control an obscene number of media outlets, including the NBC broadcast network, numerous cable channels, two dozen local NBC and Telemundo stations, movie studios, online video portals, and the physical network that distributes that media content to millions of Americans through Internet and cable connections.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts called it "a proud and exciting day for Comcast," and showered Obama's FCC and DoJ with praise.

Culmination of the deal, combined with the FCC's recent, loophole-ridden "Net Neutrality" rules, sets the table for Comcast to turn the Internet into cable television, where it has the ability to speed up its content, slow down or block its competitors such as Netflix, and hike the rates for its programming and services. We'll all end up paying more -- whether you're a Comcast subscriber or not.

More Broken Promises

The merger further squeezes what's left of independent, diverse voices from the television dial, laying waste to President Barack Obama's promise to reign in runaway media consolidation. As a candidate in June 2008, he said:

"I strongly favor diversity of ownership of outlets and protection against the excessive concentration of power in the hands of any one corporation, interest or small group. I strongly believe that all citizens should be able to receive information from the broadest range of sources."

Where's that Barack Obama today? He's on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal announcing an executive order that will "make sure we avoid excessive, inconsistent and redundant regulation," focusing on rules that "stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive." Given the president's long list of massive compromises to corporate lobbyists during his first two years, today's gesture to Wall Street is galling.

This is the same Obama who promised to "take a backseat to no one" on Net Neutrality before applauding the FCC's AT&T-approved Internet rule. It's the same Obama who promised to provide the public option on health care and to end the massive bonuses to Wall Street titans...the list of broken promises is far longer than space allows.

And it's the same Obama who, in the same 2008 interview about media consolidation, said,

"There is a clear need in this country for the reinvigoration of antitrust enforcement. ... to step up review of merger activity and take effective action to stop or restructure those mergers that are likely to harm consumer welfare."

So much for that one, too.

President Obama is being squeezed by a corrupt Washington that is run by industry lobbyists, fake grassroots groups, massive political spending and PR machines that make the most basic public interest protections impossible to advance. But rather than tell that story, dig in, and fight like a true leader would, Obama has chosen to hire corporate-friendly advisors, compromise on the most crucial substance, and attempt to eke out weak, symbolic, half-victories gift-wrapped in flowery oratory and spin. It's a losing strategy that has become brutally transparent.

Opening Pandora's Box

Why should you care about a business deal between a couple of companies?

This merger will touch all corners of the media market, and you won't be immune. Comcast will jack up the prices that other cable and online distributers pay for NBC content, and those prices will be passed to you. That means higher cable and Internet bills, even if you don't subscribe to Comcast.

Comcast and the FCC Chairman argue that there are "conditions" applied to the merger that protect the public, (details about the conditions are not out yet) but they fail to mention that the key provisions are either voluntary (no, that's not a typo), or expire after a few years. Then, all bets are off, as the merger squeezes out what's left of independent, diverse voices from television dials, and forever changes the Internet as we know it.

As television, radio, phone and other services become Internet-based, cable internet service is becoming the only connection that's fast enough to handle streaming video and cutting-edge applications. That means you're stuck with whatever Comcast and their cable buddies dish out. And thanks to Obama FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, it's gonna be some nasty gruel.

While pushing through this deal, the FCC chair completely ignored the lack of competition in the Internet service provider market. As former Obama White House technology adviser Susan Crawford writes, "In 2011, as the telcos continue to sink, we're going to need to confront this natural monopoly problem head-on. How do we ensure a nationwide, affordable, better-than-all-the-competition high-speed Internet service...?"

And it will only be a matter of time before more companies follow Comcast's lead and start pursuing new mergers. The FCC's blessing of Comcast and NBC will embolden companies like AT&T or Verizon, to try to gobble up content providers such as Disney and CBS, creating a new era of media consolidation where even fewer companies control the content you watch and all the ways you want to watch it.

If I sound a little bitter, it's because the Comcast-NBC merger is truly a disaster for anyone who hopes the American public might someday emerge from the propaganda morass that is embodied by cable television, and now threatens to consume the internet.

Our democracy is certain to fail if we cannot figure out a way to foster media that is less sensational and superficial, and more thoughtful and informative. That's a goal that is antithetical to the programming you can expect from a merged Comcast/NBC, where profit pressures and blind corporate ideology will ensure substandard fare.

In the credit-where-it's due category, Democratic FCC Commissioner and public interest stalwart Michael Copps voted against the merger(pdf) in a demonstration of principle that is all too rare in Washington. My hat is off to you, Commissioner.

But you, Mr. Obama. You said you "strongly believe that all citizens should be able to receive information from the broadest range of sources," yet your agencies are approving this deal while you watch quietly, and use the merger to demonstrate your corporate street cred.

Does the strength of your beliefs mean nothing? If so, keep doing what you're doing, and watch your administration fall ever farther out of favor with real people across the country, both left and right.

Today, you can chalk up another victory for the K Street lobbyists whose approval you seek, and another crushing defeat for the American people whose interests you are supposed to protect.

dkamm65 · January 18, 2011, 08:08:10 PM

not bump

SteamingImpact · January 18, 2011, 08:10:30 PM

Colten · January 18, 2011, 08:15:07 PM

Why do they have to make sure Comcast doesn't dominate over competing companies?

Sirrus · January 18, 2011, 08:35:49 PM

Quote from: Colten on January 18, 2011, 08:15:07 PM

Why do they have to make sure Comcast doesn't dominate over competing companies?

Because now that Comcast owns a company that provides content delivered on their service. The more profitable their subsidiary company is, the more profitable they are.

Say you have Comcast internet, and you're thinking about dropping your Comcast cable because Netflix is a lot cheaper and way more convenient. Well, suddenly, Netflix runs a lot slower than other sites! Suddenly, it takes just as long to load a show as it does to watch it! Unacceptable; I guess you'll just keep your Comcast cable and cancel your Netflix.

Shouldn't be much of a stretch.

Colten · January 18, 2011, 08:48:46 PM

Quote from: Sirrus on January 18, 2011, 08:35:49 PM

Because now that Comcast owns a company that provides content delivered on their service. The more profitable their subsidiary company is, the more profitable they are.

Say you have Comcast internet, and you're thinking about dropping your Comcast cable because Netflix is a lot cheaper and way more convenient. Well, suddenly, Netflix runs a lot slower than other sites! Suddenly, it takes just as long to load a show as it does to watch it! Unacceptable; I guess you'll just keep your Comcast cable and cancel your Netflix.

Shouldn't be much of a stretch.

Id call that better business but w/e

Sirrus · January 18, 2011, 09:03:29 PM

Quote from: Colten on January 18, 2011, 08:48:46 PM

Id call that better business but w/e

No, that's horrible. That's awful. The internet cannot be biased. It's completely the opposite of the fundamental principles of the internet.