Slashdot Mirror
Comcast to Buy 51% of NBC, GE Goes After 49%
An anonymous reader writes to tell us that Comcast and General Electric announced a joint venture yesterday to control NBC Universal, with Comcast coming out with the controlling interest. Comcast's hopes seem to be on succeeding in a marriage of distribution and content, where Time Warner failed. "The deal was approved by the companies' boards, and is subject to regulatory approval. GE said it expects the deal to go through in the third quarter of 2010. Congress has already said it will hold a hearing to investigate whether Comcast will gain 'undue advantages' from the deal that gives it access to programming."
In other news, comcast announced today that they have a revolutionary way of throtteling high-tv viewers during "primetime" hours. While primetime was not explicitly defined (nor was "high-tv viewer"), they promised that this was in the best interest of their customers in order to ensure that everyone gets their fair share.
Seriously though, it'll be interesting to see what happens here. Ads for new NBC shows over broadband anyone?
I could only hope this would end in disaster for both evil corporations.
Yet, I have serious doubts about that. When two legions that have sold their souls to the devil for money combine on a project that seems doomed from the start, I'm wary to dismiss it on the grounds that it defies common sense, and try to find out what they're looking at.
I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
Comcast is gunning for vertical integration. In order to optimize the benefits from its vertical integration, it has a very strong incentive to prioritize NBC sites and content over other sites and content.
I'm convinced that Comcast's package will include optimized delivery for NBC sites and content, only available to Comcast users. In and of itself not a bad deal, but there is very little difference to the end-user between optimizing delivery of your own stuff and throttling delivery of other people's stuff - except that one is dirt cheap to do, and the other is expensive. In a few years, I'm expecting Comcast to offer sites like it currently offers channels: with different pay tiers and different performance.
Nice troll sig, by the way. I'll reply with a quote from Sagan: " They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
It's the dinosaurs who are the ones funding the production of the entertainments that you are, ummm, appropriating from the torrents. You'd better hope they stay flush somehow, or the only piece of new content left to pirate will be Joss Whedon's grocery list. Oh, wait, I know -- we'll just instruct all the professional producers and directors to put their work on their blogs and fund production on what we tip them in PayPal. Worked for This Guy, didn't it?
Seriously, this was on the front page of every news outlet... almost two days ago. I know that there's a bit of a lag time to get things on Slashdot, but honestly, is it asking that much to post big stories the same day they happen?
This will allow for competition for those people who are stuck with Comcast being the sole provider.
NBC Universal owns (a large part of) Hulu.
Hulu obviously competes with Comcast's cable TV offerings. They'd much rather you pay for a cable TV subscription than watch the same shows for free, legally, online.
Ever since the deal was announced, Comcast has made a few noises about not wanting to kill Hulu off, but excuse me if I don't quite believe them given their track record.
Given that it is moderately entertaining, it will likely be canceled.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Doesn't NBC partly own Hulu? Isn't Comcast's Cable system in competition with Hulu?
Comcast definitely isn't "too big to fail." Comcast fails just fine regardless of it's size.
Unplug while you still can, there's a real world out there, and its more HD than HD and has surround sound.
/. irony at it's best.
mmmm...forbidden donut
Yawn. I can visit the antarctic and china in HD, watch plane crashes and learn about huge construction disasters, go to the bottom of the ocean and see space. I don't have the funds to do any of the things in real life that I experience while TV.
When the local anchorperson starts coming to the front door to give me the news, I'll do that in your "real life" too.
Get off your soap box.
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
I mean now that Comcast won't have to pay NBC and all NBC owned stations, I should have a reduced Comcast bill correct? Of course, I could just be naive....
If you're from philly, you know how shitty comcast is, and why old women smash their offices with a hammer.
Of course this isn't the same now; NBC is a lot more than just NBC, and while NBC broadcast TV and RCA made TVs, they didn't OWN the method of broadcast. Comcast (and cable / sat.) is the ONLY way to receive most channels today. Add in to this that comcast also controls many peoples connection to the internet, and thats where the problelm comes in.
If a Douche Bag doesn't actually act like a Douche Bag to anyone, are they really a Douche Bag?