Thoughts About Comcast following Olberman's Dismissal

[Demeter]

Comcast has been a public villain for a long time, and being blessed with an unholy, de facto monopoly, it hasn't cared to be subtle about revealing its power or intentions.

But Americans not of the Koolaid-swilling persuasion cannot look upon the acquisition of MSNBC for the purpose of firing Olberman without disquiet.

If the way to fascism is stealth, this blew the game wide open.

Fortunately, technology has spawned several small but growing threats to cable. The tech-savvy public can get their drama from netflix, hulu, dvd hire or purchase, and their news from the internet and its aggregators. Word of mouth is becoming especially important with the demise of the daily unaffiliated newspaper and broadcast TV, as those plugged in relay the news to their less-savvy neighbors.

ATT and perhaps soon, Verizon, and Dish TV are undercutting Comcast where it lives. Comcast, which has never had customer service as a corporate goal or tool, has nothing going for it on a fundamental level, and has chopped one of its legs out from under it by this hasty dismissal of a popular star.

The glee and malice and stupidity of firing Olberman so immediately will further estrange the public that doesn't drink tea or koolaid. Olberman was entertaining AND informative. And he isn't going away, either.

Comcast, however, just might, and a good deal sooner than otherwise is natural for an old-tech corporation.

[coolhip33]

1. They didn't fire him

[leftstreet]

2. I haven't been following this. Did he quit or get fired?

:shrug:

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Both...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/business/media/24olbermann.html?_r=1&sq=olbermann&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1295946325-Uh+ljzrI5AjdOo5TzB3VNw

(yeah, you gotta watch an ad to read the article...)

[HEyHEY]

3. DIdn't they just give Cenk Uygher a job?

Is he part of the fascist movement now too? Or just part of the mediocrity one?

[Skip Intro]

5. (Comcast's) "acquisition of MSNBC for the purpose of firing Olberman"

are you kidding?

[TreasonousBastard]

6. Ohferchrissakes, he's been fired from damn near every job he's had, due to...

his thin skin and huge ego-- this was just the latest and most public. And it was in the works long before Comcast.

He's great on air, but a pain in the balls everywhere else and at a certain point they had to ask just what their 7 million a year was buying.