Comcast has proposed to purchase 51% of NBC from General Electric, which would give Comcast the controlling stake in NBC.Public interest groups are already raising red flags at this possible merger. Comcast owns the majority of cable systems throughout the US, so many are concerned that NBC will receive special privilege from Comcast over its competitors. Interest groups like the Free Press and The Center for Digtal Democracy hope the Obama administration will closely scrutinize this merger, and that he will continue to live up to his campaign promise to work towards a more diverse media.
Another big concern with the merger is the impact of the Internet video market. Currently, NBC owns a 30% stake in Hulu, a website that allows users to watch TV or film clips online. According to the group Media Access Project, a public interest law firm, Comcast is threatened by websites like Hulu, which may possibly lead to the limitation of free television episodes.
I spent over 8 years with NBC, so I will be very interested to see how this merger develops.
Here is a link to the full NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/media/09comcast.html
I also found a couple of additional realted articles:
http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSTRE5A801F20091109?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=11624
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