StopBigMedia.com blog posts
February 9, 2011
Posted by Jenn Ettinger
The Comcast-NBC Universal merger was recently finalized, and its impact on our media environment is likely to be grim. Ultimately, this new giant company will control not just vast amounts content, but how people can access that content via broadcast, cable and the Internet. The result will be fewer voices and fewer choices across the [...]
January 24, 2011
Posted by Corie Wright
Question: Two federal agencies review the same merger. Both agencies have jurisdiction to review the merger under U.S. law. The agencies review the merger during the same time period, and ultimately they reach the same decision – to approve the merger with conditions. One is right, the other is wrong. Why?
This is not an [...]
January 18, 2011
Posted by Josh Silver
Today, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to bless the merger of Comcast, the nation’s largest cable and residential Internet provider, with NBC-Universal. The Justice Department is expected to follow suit right away, removing the last obstacle to the unprecedented consolidation of media and Internet power in the hands of one company.
You should be afraid [...]
January 18, 2011
Posted by Megan Tady
The Federal Communications Commission is about to give its blessing to the biggest media merger in a decade. Approving the Comcast-NBC merger is a big mistake. Recently, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) warned that “we could end up with a few corporate giants in contol of the flow of information in America.”
Public interest groups, small broadcasters, [...]
January 14, 2011
Posted by Megan Tady
As the Federal Communications Commission considers approving the Comcast/NBC-Universal merger, Sen. Al Franken (D.-Minn.) has long been pushing back against the merger. In his latest video, Sen. Franken warns that if the FCC approves the deal, “We could end up with a few corporate giants in control of the flow of information in America.” Watch [...]
January 13, 2011
Posted by Josh Stearns
Today, Free Press placed a full page ad opposing the Comcast/NBC merger in The Hill, a Washington, D.C. paper that covers affairs on Capitol Hill. The ad was a series of statistics – pulled from press reports about the merger – that outlines Comcast’s use of money, influence and misinformation to push their merger through, [...]
January 4, 2011
Posted by Josh Stearns
Comcast’s promise to support local nonprofit journalism organizations looks good at first glance. These new news startups are filling the gaps left by commercial media, and they need more resources.
But let’s be clear: This gesture is no reason to approve Comcast’s takeover of NBC-Universal.
One of the key concerns with the pending mega-merger is what it [...]
December 23, 2010
Posted by Josh Stearns
Just days after the Federal Communications Commission sided with the biggest phone and cable companies and put in place a controversial and fundamentally flawed Net Neutrality rule, it is on the verge of giving another big handout to Big Media.
According to press reports, the FCC chairman Julius Genachowski is poised to approve the pending Comcast-NBC [...]
December 20, 2010
Posted by Josh Stearns
If approved, the Comcast/NBC-Universal deal will be the largest media merger in a generation. Comcast is the nation’s dominant residential cable and Internet company, and NBC programs reach every TV-watching home in America. But what does this all add up to for the public? We did the math.
Take a look (click here for a larger [...]
December 15, 2010
Posted by Josh Stearns
Something surprising just happened.
One of the world’s largest media giants came out with a long list of concerns about the proposed Comcast/NBC-Universal merger. The LA Times reported this week that Viacom recently visited the Federal Communications Commission to outline its concerns about Comcast’s take over of NBC.
The LA Times reports:
Among the topics Viacom discussed were [...]
