Comcast-NBCU Is Bad For Broadcasting

A Q&A with Media Access Project President Andy Schwartzman on the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal. He says he's unhappy about vertical integration in the media market to begin with. The Comcast-NBC deal is especially troublesome because the cable programming market has been too difficult to crack. This combination gives Comcast all the more reason to make it difficult for new and interesting programmers to get carriage. It will also make it much harder for competitors like the phone companies and the satellite companies to get programming under similar terms and conditions. So it will adversely affect viewer choice. He also thinks the deal is likely to raise cable rates. In those cities where Comcast is the dominant cable company as well as the owner of an NBC station, there will be a lot of problems for the other network affiliates. The ability to sell advertising across platforms will give a distinct edge to the Comcast stations. While [Comcast CEO] Brian Roberts talks about paying for retransmission consent, the fact that he can get the NBC content for free is going to give him more leverage in retransmission consent negotiations with other affiliates.