FCC Approves Comcast/NBC Merger

The Federal Communications Commission and the U.S Justice Department approved a $28 billion merger of Comcast and NBC Universal as stated in an article on NPR’s website. The FCC approved of the deal with conditions to protect consumers and the developing online video industry. Comcast is the largest cable and internet company; NBC Universal is a key producer of TV and cable content and movies. There is a lot of power concentrated in one company now. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps critiqued the merger saying it would result in less diversity and fewer programming choices on the air. He was the only commissioner, out of five, to vote against the merger. In the conditions Comcast must make affordable broadband available and that it won’t prevent rival internet companies that want to use Comcast lines to reach consumer.

                I chose this article due to its relevance to what we discussed in class about “Media and Democracy”. We talked about how most of what we watch, read, and listen to is controlled by the “Big Six”. Two of these big six were Comcast and NBC Universal so now it is just the Big Four. We also read an article on freepress.net about media consolidation and it effects. Some of the dangers that are presented now are fewer voices and viewpoints, less diversity in ownership and programming, less coverage of local issues that matter to communities, and less unbiased reporting.

                I am completely shocked that the FCC approved this merger. These two companies now control so much of the media that we consume. A lot of the media now will have to go through Comcast for approval and many of what we see will be whatever Comcast wants us to see. It is also taking away from the public realm of reporting. The government will subsidize and pay more attention to this huge monopoly of a corporation than any small publicly or independently owned companies (NPR, Al Jazeera, or PBS). There is an article that was recently published wanted to restrict or cut funding to NPR and PBS.

                This article did not offer much viewpoint from the perspective of Comcast or NBC universal but I highly doubt either of the companies wanted to publicly speak of the merger. They probably left that job up to people like Michael Copps. The article was not biased for or against the merger though. The conditions that the deal was signed on were very fair and did not favor nor disfavor the companies.

http://www.npr.org/search/index.php?searchinput=comcast+nbc+merger