Hard not to laugh in retrospect at FCC chair Julius Genachowski's Dec 2009 confirmation testimony that he would
"pay attention to “excessive” media consolidation".http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/70767-comcast-nbc-deal-finds-campaign-cash-converging-with-obamas-principlesComcast chief executive Brian Roberts made more than $76,000 in political contributions to Democrats since 2006, compared to $13,500 in contributions to Republicans. Comcast vice president and top lobbyist David Cohen made about $180,000 to Democrats in the same period, compared to $12,000 to Republicans, according to OpenSecrets.org.
Cohen also helped raise more than $6 million for Obama’s election campaign.
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Despite the companies’ political and financial support, the proposed deal faces significant regulatory hurdles, especially from an administration that has openly said it will uphold anti-trust laws, particularly in the media industry.
On the campaign trail, President Barack Obama talked about the need to strengthen diversity in television, cable and radio programming.
Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski, who was appointed by Obama and is a close personal friend of the president, said in his Senate confirmation hearing that he would pay attention to “excessive” media consolidation. The agency will begin a formal media ownership review next year.
Fast-forward to January, 2011:http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2011/0119/Comcast-NBC-Universal-deal-Can-company-now-crush-its-rivalsComcast-NBC Universal deal: Can company now crush its rivals?The Comcast-NBC Universal merger is on a scale that even the experts don’t quite grasp, many observers say. By Gloria Goodale, Staff writer / January 19, 2011
Los Angeles
America’s largest cable operator, Comcast, has cleared its final hurdle in its bid to take a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal, with the Federal Communications Commission and the US Department of Justice signing off on the $30 billion deal. As is the case with many a prenuptial between two high-profile entertainment figures, the agreement is full of devilish details for both sides.
But this is one contract that will be pored over by more than the standard looky-loos: Since this merger touches both film and television content, as well as Internet and telecommunications-services distribution, it creates a vertically integrated media behemoth. And it’s on a scale that many observers say even the experts don’t quite grasp.
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Whenever an access provider controls the content, says Jonathan Askin, a media expert at Brooklyn Law School, consumers suffer in the long run – “regardless of the lip service that regulators give to ensuring competition.” The agreement’s conditions give the appearance of putting constraints on the power that Comcast will wield over both consumers and content creators, he says.
“The regulators will do little to enforce the merger conditions,” he says via e-mail. Beyond that, he says, the agreement does little to guard against price gouging by Comcast, opening the door “for Comcast/NBC to game the system.” He adds, “This is the lesson regulators have failed to learn since the first efforts by media empires to control both content and access.”
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