Comcast and NBC - No way!
A planned deal between NBC Universal and Comcast raises serious concerns for consumers, media competition and workers. The Communications Workers of America and a broad coalition of industry, labor, and public interest organizations have stood up to Congress urging that the sale be stopped.
The Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights brought the proposed merger further into the spotlight by holding a hearing on the plan.
Senator Al Franken in particular aired his concerns about the legitimacy of the promises NBC is proposing as part of the deal. Franken pointed to similar -eventually broken - promises made by NBC during alterations to federal regulations that limited the amount of programming a network could own.
"You'll have to excuse me if I don't trust these promises, and that is from experience in the business," Franken said.
Franken's concerns are not without merit. NBC President/CEO Jeff Zucker was recently caught up in a mistruth about NBC subsidiary, Hulu's decision to block content to Internet browser Boxee.
Regardless of the promises NBC is making, the idea of the merger flies right in the face of competitive markets. Mark Cooper, research director for Consumer Federation of America, testified at the hearing:
"By combining its distribution market power, that 50% market share that 24% national share of cable viewers, with a huge portfolio of content, the merger would dramatically increase the incentive and ability of Comcast to raise prices, discriminate in carriage, foreclose and block competitive entry and force larger programming bundles onto other systems. Those strategies raise prices and reduce choices."
Click here to listen to a webcast or read the transcript of the entire hearing.
Click here to sign a petition against the deal.
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