This is a watershed moment in the history of television. General Electric and Comcast have announced a deal to sell 51% ownership in NBC-Universal to Comcast. GE will retain 49% ownership. All sorts of observations, comments, complaints and allegations are already appearing as to what this sale will mean to future television viewing. I can't identify all levels of impact but here are some observations:
1. Comcast could have a greater ability to influence (restrict) the amount of free online content. Their motive is to collect not just eyeballs that are sold to advertisers, but to generate revenue through subscription services.
2. Cable subscriptions could lead to anywhere, anytime television. A cable subscription could lead to a "mobile" or online license to view content.
3. Content may appear on proprietary websites. Instead of sending programming to Hulu.com or elsewhere, the programming could be warehoused on a Comcast site--available only to Comcast cable subscribers.
4. Ownership diversity shrinks further. Larger scale will be needed across all media industries to compete. As companies get larger, the number of owners will shrink.
5. Over-the-air television will likely operate but the need for the sheer number of free TV stations may shrink--especially if more and more programming migrates to on demand availability.
6. Appointment viewing shrinks; there will be less emphasis on watching a program at a specific time when it can be found at any time through a subscription service. (This trend is likely even without the Comcast/NBC-U deal.)
7. This is a pivotal moment for the Federal Communications Commission as it looks at historic regulatory trends and economic analysis to determine marketplace competition and how it should respond to this business deal.
8. Expect the Justice Department to examine the deal--just as they did the XM/Sirius deal (approved), the DirectTV/Dish merger (not approved) and don't forget about the DOJ breakup of AT&T--a reverse strategy to current media trends.
9. Expect another big deal in the next 18 months.
See these articles in The Washington Post:
http://ComcastNBCU-Friday.notlong.com AND http://WashPost-Friday2.notlong.com
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Conspiracy and Corruption is alive and well. All bow down to the Almighty Dollar. This is just another way the fat cats of technology are trying to squeeze money out of the general public. The government better recognize this as the beginning of a cartel and take preemptive measures.
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