Posted by Bud on December 02, 2009 at 10:47:04:
The NBC-Comcast merger is a done deal, just waiting for the ink to dry. Phil Rosenthal takes a look at this major TV Network sale and what it all means in his media column in today's Chicago Tribune.
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NBC Universal to bolster Comcast's reign as cable king
Well, this is just Comcastic.
General Electric's deal giving Comcast control of NBC Universal is done, save for the paperwork, according to NBC Universal's CNBC, which said the deal is expected to be announced Thursday morning.
But I'll be darned if I'm going to sit around from 8 a.m. to noon waiting for that to show up.
Then it may take a year to close, what with requisite government approvals and all, so the waiting has just begun.
The good news, one supposes, is that a maker of jet engines, hospital equipment, fluorescent lights and microwave ovens will no longer be trying to determine a five-year depreciation schedule on late-night talk-show hosts.
On the other hand, we're talking about a major broadcast TV network -- we can still say that about NBC, right? -- several popular cable networks and a big movie studio becoming part of an outfit that is the nation's top cable and residential Internet broadband provider and No. 3 residential phone service provider. The ramifications go far beyond prime time, late local news and even a TV institution such as "The Tonight Show."
Comcast is a company that, as owner of the Versus cable network, can't seem to reach a carriage deal so DirecTV customers can see bull riding, cagefighting and hockey. Having talked with reps on both sides in this negotiation, it's impossible to have a rooting interest, but, clearly, Comcast knows how to play hardball.
As an Internet service provider, Comcast isn't a big fan of Net neutrality, the principle that all content must be delivered without preference -- certain sites can't be slowed or made faster -- to users.
And have you seen your monthly cable bill lately? You thought that figure was your ZIP code, didn't you? No, seriously.
Comcast wants NBC Universal primarily for profitable cable channels such as Bravo, USA Network and CNBC. Comcast already has its own suite of channels, such as E! Entertainment, Style, Versus, G4, PBS Kids Sprout, TV One and the Golf Channel.
Throw in Universal Pictures for its production capabilities and, just as important, its library of content to be made available on cable, online and on the phone, and one gets a sense of just how big this thing can be.
Whether Comcast needs or wants the company's theme parks is unclear. The future of NBC Universal's participation in the online video site Hulu also is unknown. Comcast has a video site, Fancast.
As for the TV network, NBC has begun to adopt a cable mentality, rather than that of a traditional broadcaster, under General Electric. The move of Jay Leno to prime time five nights a week is typical of that approach, seeing the goal as cost management rather than reaching the largest number of people. Cable networks don't need a lot viewers, just enough to make money.
NBC-owned stations, such as Chicago's WMAQ-Ch. 5, possibly could be put up for sale. Formal prohibitions on owning both a cable system and a broadcast outlet in the same market went away with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, but the Federal Communications Commission still evaluates deals such as this in terms of whether the public interest is served and might make divestiture a condition.
Frankly, giving Washington a Comcast-NBC Universal deal to review during a midterm election cycle is an unofficial, perhaps unintended, campaign gift.
Nothing politicians love more than speaking out on issues that carry little populist downside, such as media ownership and how big is too big, reining in cable prices, allowing cable subscribers to choose which channels they'll pay for and whether cable providers should have to pay to carry broadcast outlets the way they do for cable channels.
NBC was launched 83 years ago to help RCA sell radios. Later, it helped sell TVs, and after that, with an all-color lineup and a peacock logo, it helped sell color TVs.
General Electric picked up the Peacock Network in its 1986 acquisition of RCA. It wasn't always a comfortable fit, as typified by then-employee David Letterman's famous visit to GE headquarters shortly after the deal. Bringing a camera crew with him, Letterman sought to deliver a lovely basket of fruit as a get-to-know-you gift and was turned away at the lobby by security.
After the taped segment, he read a lengthy statement about how the security people were just doing their job and so on.
Which is emblematic of how it worked out.
In theory, NBC Universal will help sell Comcast's cable, Internet and phone services.
And you thought there were a lot of places to see "Law & Order" reruns now.