Comcast In Deal Talks With NBC Universal

schwit1 sent us an LA Times article about another step in the seemingly unending media consolidation. This time it's Cable giant Comcast Corp. looking at NBC. NBC owns a slew of channels, including Bravo, USA and Syfy (who might have the single lamest rebranding since Spike). The article says that it would be far cheaper than the Disney deal Comcast tried to pull off 5 years ago.

More on media monopoly

[MRe_nl]

Critiques of media consolidation involve a number of issues and notions:
That consolidation and globalization of media over the past decade have been massive.
That media consolidation is served by government deregulation and subsidization of
the airwaves.
That media consolidation and globalization are viewed as predecessors of global
capitalism.
That the bottom line of corporate media is profit, not content.
That media industries have become media oligopolies, that is, media conglomerates
are not agents of a democratic citizenry, but of a business and state elite.
That critiques of globalization and corporate power are marginalized.
That media audiences are treated as consumers rather than citizens.
That the traditional notion of media having a public interest obligation has
disappeared.
That democratically-based media outlets have expanded and while marginalized
provide an alternative to corporate media messages.

http://libr.org/amtf//bibliographies/bib.1.pdf [libr.org]

Re:When they control......

[elrous0]

Actually, cable-wise you pretty much *are* locked into them if they have the cable franchise in your city and you can't use satellite (your house faces the wrong way, live in an apartment, etc.). And even on the broadband internet side, most people only have 2 or 3 options at the most. In my city, if you don't go Comcast for broadband, the only other option is AT&T DSL (which is limited to a measly 3 Mbps in this city).

Rebranding?

[Blink Tag]

Syfy has the single lamest rebranding since Spike?

I think you're forgetting The Shack [slashdot.org]

Comcast sucks.......

[Watsonr8]

Comcast sucks......... limited channels HD and standard, your bill is never what they say it will be my bill jumped from $69.99 a month to $150.00, and this week i order a new dv recorder box and they offered for a tech to come out and "install" the box for the small fee of $99. i had to laugh. Hate to see what they have in store for us with even more of a monopoly.....

Say good bye to Hulu

[Glenstorm]

Fabulous, just when we have an alternative to the cable delivery system become viable. . . I am curious how much this plays into Comcast's desire for NBC. They see people making an end run around their monopoly and are implementing this plan to plug the gap.

Re:Lamest rebranding

[mrsurb]

World's lamest rebranding in my book: The Australian icon Vegemite being renamed iSnack 2.0. Sounds like a joke, but... [abc.net.au]

No ads?

[Malc]

So if the distributor owns the content creator, does that mean no ads? I grew up with paying the equivalent of $20/month for TV and getting no ads, so I found it highly irritating in N. America paying $40/month or more, and being bombarded with the most mindless of advertising.

Dream on.

Re:Great - I can see it now...

[pckl300]

As far as I'm concerned, Comcast is even more evil and untrustworthy as Microsoft, which is really saying something. Stay classy, Comcast!

It figures your experience was horrible. In the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Comcast has received the lowest customer satisfaction rating of any organization in the US, including the IRS.

most annoying leno ever

[0110011001110101]

if nbc will be run anything like comcasts cable modem division, I assume I will get to watch about 10 minutes of jay lenos new show, then nbc will "go down", at which point I will call into nbc, ask them what the problem is, have them tell me they can see my tv just fine so the problem must be on my end. I'll restart my cable box, but no change. After another 20 minutes on the phone they will tell me more people in my area have reported an issue and that a technician is on the way to the main nbc studio. 45 minutes later nbc will start broadcasting again and the show will be over.