Broadcast pioneer NBC prepares for cable takeover

[babylonsister]

Broadcast pioneer NBC prepares for cable takeover
By DAVID BAUDER


Eight decades after pioneering the concept of broadcasting, NBC is on the verge of a startling move that illustrates broadcast television's decline.

Cable TV operator Comcast Corp. is expected to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal, perhaps as early as this week, bringing the network of Johnny Carson, Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Hope, Milton Berle and Tom Brokaw under the corporate control of the company that owns the Golf Channel and E! Entertainment Television.

"This is highly symbolic," said Tim Brooks, who had worked at NBC for 20 years and now writes books on television history.

Starting Sunday, Vivendi SA has an option to sell its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal. Majority owner General Electric Co. is expected to buy it and then sell a 51 percent stake of the entire NBC Universal unit to Comcast, which serves about a quarter of the nation's subscription TV households.

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And those cable properties -- more than the flagship "Peacock" network -- were the draw for Comcast. By owning more content, Comcast further hedges its bets as mainly a distributor of shows in case viewers ditch their cable TV subscriptions and migrate to the Internet, mobile devices or a platform that has yet to emerge. The company could charge for the shows or sell ads wherever the viewers are.

more...

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/scitech/2009/11/14/D9BVCURG1_us_nbc_past_and_future#story_full_7c1dc91629afef3369fc77b119a2e24d

[ananda]

1. Ickslimeyuck.

Comcast.. so low it could play limbo under a snake.

[Bitwit1234]

2. The government is going to break up big banks

why in the devil don't they stop the monopoly of these media companies.

[lib2DaBone]

3. Remember when they de-regulated cable?

It was going to give us a 100 channels to choose from and the cost would go down and the quality up and yada yada yada. (BOHICA) bend over.. here it comes again..

Comcast is one big sloppy mess of shopping channels and religious preachers... and the price goes up on a regular basis.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

4. Just get rid of Leno

And don't put him back at 11:30.

[stevedeshazer]

5. Very bad news indeed.

Pun intended.

As Randi says, "the news has been canceled."

[Born_A_Truman]

6. Scary rumor was that Murdoch was interested in NBC

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=6919488

The rumor is that Comcast is going to keep the cable channels, then sell the NBC network.

My first job in broadcasting was an NBC affiliate in the midwest. Fun times!

[Sebastian Doyle]

7. This cannot be allowed to happen

Make no mistake about it - one of the main objectives of this takeover is to silence MSNBC's evening lineup. Half the Comcast markets have already moved MSNBC to a higher priced digital tier while leaving the right wing "news" channels like FAUX and CNN on the lower priced tier. Media consolidation in general is a horrible idea, this one in particular would mean the end of ANY TV news coverage in this country that wasn't Repuke biased.