Comcast/NBC Deal May Mean Massive Changes for TV

The NBC peacock sits proudly on the network's headquarters in Burbank, Calif. Cable giant Comcast acquired a controlling stake in the network in an estimated $37-billion deal. (Sipa via AP Images)

As Jonathan and I discussed in TechStuff Live Tuesday, Comcast has officially purchased a controlling interest in NBC Universal from General Electric. There are many things people have discussed as potential problems, and I’m sure they’ll come up during the FCC’s review of the deal. Comcast will have to reassure everyone that the company won’t promote NBC Universal networks at the expense of other channels. It may have to divest itself of some television stations before the deal can go forward.

And then there’s the whole movie distribution thing. Comcast will be asked if it intends to leverage its control of Universal Studios pictures to hurt its competitors. Diane Mermigas wrote on BNET earlier this week that Comcast has been a big proponent of video-on-demand services and the company could possibly release movies simultaneously at the box office and on demand to create the largest possible market for films.

Another issue is how this deal is going to affect online TV viewing. Hulu, a streaming video site that offers TV shows and movies for free use, is a venture in which Fox and NBC are both involved. Fox is part of News Corp., which has already been suggesting it wants to see a paid tier of content on the site. Mermigas said Comcast may very well push Hulu to start charging site users, as well. But Comcast already has its own streaming video service, which is called Fancast. In addition, it’s also been working on another service, called TV Everywhere. CNET’s Greg Sandoval wrote this morning that Comcast executives said the company is planning on participating in both ventures.

Ryan Singel, writing in the Epicenter blog at Wired.com, wrote that Massachusetts representative Edward J. Markey has already said that he’s concerned about possible limitations to customer choice. Considering this news hits on the day of the deal itself, I expect more voices will join Singel’s to express their own concerns.

But Mermigas suggested there could be other changes in store. She said she thinks the FCC could use the deal as a possible starting point for deregulating the broadcast industry. That could have massive consequences for TV viewers, no matter where they watch.

It’s early in this game, so it’s hard to know exactly what’s going to happen, but given the mood of other bloggers I’ve read, no one expects Comcast to rest on its laurels if this deal goes through.

For more on some of these topics, take a look at these articles:

How Television Works
How Cable TV Works
How Hulu Works