Community | December 03, 2009 | 21 comments

Comcast, NBC deal sounds alarm bells in Washington

source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/12/washington-speaks-out-on-comca...

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current89
The marriage of the nation's largest cable and broadband provider with a Hollywood entertainment powerhouse has sent shock waves through Washington, D.C., as lawmakers and consumer activists are calling for an intense regulatory review of the deal.

Cable behemoth Comcast Corp., which this morning unveiled a deal to take majority control of General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, is already gearing up for a long song and dance in Washington to get the acquisition approved. The company sent a letter to key policy makers this morning, saying its deal is "pro-competitive, pro-consumer, and strongly in the public interest."
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), who chairs the powerful Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, promised that a hearing on the deal would be held.

“This acquisition will create waves throughout the media and entertainment marketplace and we don’t know where the ripples will end," Kohl said in a statement. He added that a hearing was necessary so "consumers can get a better sense of how this deal could affect their access to diverse programming and information, especially as they more often look to the Internet for such services."

Other lawmakers voicing concern about the deal include Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. Kerry said his subcommittee would "monitor the process closely to ensure that any legitimate anti-competitive and public interest concerns are fully addressed."

The Federal Communications Commission, which will be the lead regulatory agency reviewing the deal, said it would "carefully examine the proposed merger and will be thorough, fair, and fact-based in its review.” Also likely to seriously kick the tires on the Comcast-NBC bus will be either the Federal Trade Commission or the Justice Department.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/12/washington-speaks-...

Photo of Comcast HQ in Philadelphia.
  1. groups:
    Community,   US Politics
  2. tags:
    FCC,  General Electric,  NBC Universal,  Comcast Corp
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21 comments // Comcast, NBC deal sounds alarm bells in Washington

  • diabolical44
    • 0
      diabolical44  

    • this would certainly seem like a major anti-trust law violation. but lord knows none of those laws have been enforced for several decades now. if they had, we never would have had to learn the term "too big to fail"

    • 2 years ago
  • madjik68
  • rickm8
  • diabolical44
  • esserius
    • 0
      esserius  

    • Capitalism actually is inherently self-limiting, but before it limits itself, it does a lot of damage to itself and the state. That said, the lobbyists will grease the wheels of this like there's no tomorrow. Welcome to the next media magnate that controls half of everything you watch, hear or see.

      The state is dead. Revolution is necessary. Anything short of removing every Senator, every Congressman, the President himself (because let's face it, we're too bigoted to vote a woman into the office), is not enough.

    • 2 years ago
  • sunspot01
    • 0
      sunspot01  

    • And people love Capitalism...This is capitalism in it's truest sense, companies gobbling up and buying other companies until they are the sole, big monopoly.

    • 2 years ago
  • tmaleman
    • 0
      tmaleman  
    • sunspot01:

      I believe that you're mistaken on the idea that people love capitalism. I haven't heard anybody claim that other than talking heads on the radio and from hippies like yourself who are constantly bashing free market principles. Never has an economy been run solely on capitalism. Sure, ours is closer to the laissez faire side of the spectrum than it is to the communism side, but that doesn't make us a "capitalist" country or economy.

    • 2 years ago
  • extracrazykiwi2008
  • JonRaymond
    • 0
      JonRaymond  

    • There is one easy way for people to take back control of the media: Don't watch it.
      There is one easy way for people to take control of the banks: Don't use them.
      There is one easy way for people to take control of energy: Don't drive.

      But the media is what controls us and keeps us from doing anything. We are lulled into complacency by the media, even by Current.com, with statements like, "monitor the process closely" or "concerns are fully addressed" or "kick the tires," instead of "Orwellian threat" or "erosion of freedom" or "corporate control" or "police state."

    • 2 years ago
  • squareshaped
    • 0
      squareshaped  
    • JonRaymond:

      Ok, I get the rejection of the media outlets forced down our throats and the concept of using other means than a car (e.g. public transportation, bikes, or your legs) to get around, but the concept of not using banks is just plain nonsense. What are you going to do, hoard all your money up in your attic and hope your house won't ever catch fire or be robbed?

      We have learned, rather harshly, how much our economy depends on banks, and they can only survive if they have a pool of capital supplied by basic deposits into checking and savings accounts. You take that away, and our economy will fail far worse than it did in the past year.

      We've had FDIC insurance on our common checking and savings accounts for decades, and we sure as hell have plenty of open competition when it comes to opening a bank account, so if you're not happy with your bank, just switch to another one, but don't propose not using them altogether.

    • 2 years ago
  • krush_productions
  • JonRaymond
    • 0
      JonRaymond  
    • JonRaymond:

      You can use banks less. Don't use direct deposit. Why dump your entire paycheck into banks for them to sponge off your interest? Do you know that direct deposit requires you to sign away your rights to privacy? The bank can share your personal banking information with any "agency" that requests it. You trust this government with all you banking information?

      Is there a problem with banks in this country or not? Do you want to do something about it or just fall prey to the banks and the status quo?

      It's not about protection of your money by the FDIC. It's about protection of your privacy, your freedom, and our democracy from corporate control of our society. We have the power only if we use it.

      Do something that will have an effect. Take back our democracy from our corrupt corporate controlled government. Keep them out of your poersonal finances. Have a bank account if necessary, but use it sparingly. Pay with cash. Do not give banks the right to control your life and your country. If you can't fight for democracy and freedom then you deserve to lose it.

    • 2 years ago
  • current89
  • abehammy
  • current89
  • Wraak
  • krush_productions
  • Leah_Mattix
  • LowShred
  • squareshaped
    • 0
      squareshaped  
    • LowShred:

      I couldn't agree more, and I was literally talking about this with my boyfriend yesterday. Where I live, Comcast is literally the only choice for cable service, and because of that they get away with charging over $100/month for cable and internet while providing on-and-off service. Granted, it's still far better than satellite/DSL, but for the quality of service we get for our TV & Internet, it's worth maybe $60/month. We would LOVE to not give them our business and switch to another cable service, but Comcast has our balls in a blender, and it hurts.

    • 2 years ago
  • thecoyote23
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