Comcast and NBC/Universal have made it official. The nation’s largest cable television and residential Internet service provider has announced a huge deal to take over the NBC/Universal media empire.
For consumers, this mega deal represents a marriage made in hell.
If consummated, this deal would create a media and information behemoth with unprecedented size and influence, with tentacles reaching into virtually every part of the news and information consumed by Americans, from creation to delivery.
The deal is already opposed by virtually every consumer advocacy group, including Consumers Union – and with good reason. It is hard to imagine anything positive for consumers resulting from the merger.
What it would do, however, is give Comcast/NBC Universal both the ability and strong new incentives to gouge consumers, crush competitors and stymie innovation – tossing out huge profits to its executives and shareholders in the process.
And the impact will likely go well beyond Comcast customers, hitting the pocketbooks and limiting the media choices of virtually all consumers.
“With significant market power in three distribution platforms — cable, broadcast and Internet — Comcast can withhold programming from competitors, raise prices with impunity, and squash competition from emerging online video outlets by starving them of content,” says Joel Kelsey, a federal and international affairs policy analyst for Consumers Union.
Comcast didn’t get to be the biggest, baddest dog in the cutthroat cable in Internet service business by being stupid, or by having much regard for treating customers well. It has already issued a nine-point plan it says it will agree to in exchange for government approval of the deal.
It’s fair to say the list is not exactly Comcastic in regard to protecting consumers.
Examples of the largely meaningless commitments include a promise to continue to provide free over-the-air television, a pledge that the company won’t try to secretly bias NBC news coverage, and a vow it will continue to follow the Federal Communication Commission’s program access and retransmission consent rules. Interestingly, these are all “commitments” which the company is already bound to follow by law.
Consumers Union, Free Press and Consumer Federation of America have done an analysis of the “public interest commitments” being floated by Comcast, which you can read here.
The best way for government officials to live up to their responsibilities to protect consumers is to reject this deal. Absent that, strong conditions must be imposed to make sure the media monster that would be created isn’t allowed to engage in anti-consumer and anti-competitive activities.
As for Comcast’s “public interest commitments,” they don’t even serve as a good starting point.
To the representatives in Congress and the Senate… Stop Comcast and NBC/Universal from becoming one mega corporation. It’s by far one of the worst cases of corporate takeover.
Thank you,
George Heid
Perhaps the anti-trust guys in the Justice Department can be awakened from their long (since 1981) nap, and sicced on this latest malefaction.
THE ENTIRE CABLE AND SATELLITE DISH BUSINESS NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT UNDER SOME TYPE OF CONTROL. COMCAST HAS BEEN A BUNCH OF RIP OFF ARTISTS FOR YEARS, NOW THEY WILL BE EVEN MORE SO. WE NEED PROTECTION AND ALSO, CONSUMERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO CHOOSE THE CHANNELS THEY WANT AND NOT HAVE THEM FORCED UPON THEM. I AM NOT A BIG FAN OF MORE GOVERNMENT REGULATION BUT IN THE CASE OF CABLE AND SATELLITE PROVIDERS, THEY HAVE BROUGHT THIS UPON THEMSELVES!
Bring back the anti-trust laws! This is exactly what they protected us from.
It’s time the federal government learns to say “no” and mean it. This will be hell for consumers who are already feeling the pinch from a bad economy. Sooner or later these companies are going to put themselves out of business because we won’t be able to afford them.
This is unAmerican. It should be challenged immediately and not permitted to continue.Of course it will raise rates. I know so many families that are denied TV coverage because of the cost. The basic TV should be free so people have access to public TV and news. Someone should survey how many households lack basic TV because of the recent changes.
COMCAST IS VASTLY TOO POWERFUL NOW AND SHOULD BE COMROLLED!!
The entire cable and satelite dish buisness needs to be brought under control.
MY SON HAD COMCAST IT STINKS HE WENT BACK TO BRIGHTHOUSE THEIR INTERNET WAS SLOW THEIR RECEPTION WAS POOR THIS IS WHAT WE GOT TO LOOK FOWARD TO NOT FOR ME GOODBY NBC.
I have been forced to accept Comcast as my cable and internet provider, since they are a monopoly in our area. Believe me, they could care less about customer service or providing quality. Their rates escalate without providing new channels or programming. Do not allow them to have any further incursion with broadcasting or communications. They are the worst of the worst.
I ORDERED A $99.00 DEAL AND HAVE PAID $131.00 FOR IT, NOW COMCAST TELLS ME ITS GOIN TO COST ME $155.00 FOR MY $99.00 BUNDLE. i CAN’T AFFORD U COMCAST YOUR GONE.
Why are we all screaming for the government to do something about this. Don’t we have enough regulation already? How about we just use what really matters – our own purchasing power. Don’t like Comcast? Don’t use them! Is cable TV a necessity? Are there no DSL providers or satellite TV companies in your area? As for the NBC merger, if Comcast puts NBC content behind a subscription paywall, fine by me – one less channel to worry about.