Not four months after voting to approve Comcast’s takeover of NBC, FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker will soon be employed by Comcast as an executive of Governmental Affairs. Wait, what?
Starting this Sunday (February 20) at 6pm EST, Comcast is launching an all-3D TV channel that runs content 24 hours a day. Unconcerned with lacklustre 3DTV sales, Comcast wants to make sure America gets all the 3D hockey matches and Kings of Leon concerts you can stomach (for the record, I have a weak stomach).
Do you remember the prank of 2009? It was near the end of a very exciting Super Bowl (Cardinals-Steelers), when the video feed in Tucson, Arizona abruptly switched to a porn scene. Well, they finally caught the guy who did that.
Today, the FCC approved Comcast’s acquisition of NBC Universal, marking the first time a cable provider has controlled a major broadcast network. It’s like a media Frankenstein!
Comcast is buying a majority stake in NBC. Obviously, that raises some sticky questions for regulators, mixing up a cable/internet provider with a producer of content, particularly in this age of internet video. So the FCC is considering a bevy of conditions to approve the deal – like “program access” rules to keep Comcast from withholding NBC programming from competitors or net neutrality conditions. [NYT]
