NBC announced that it will air the 2020 Miss America competition, snagging it from ABC. NBC was the home of Miss America for two decades, and it also previously aired rival competition Miss USA. However, the Peacock decided to dump the latter competition series in 2015, due to the racist remarks made by then owner Donald Trump during the early stages of his presidential campaign.
The cable group says the commission should make changes to the 2011 Comcast-NBCU deal in light of the Justice Department’s concerns over AT&T-Time Warner.
The FCC said Wednesday that Comcast Corp would pay $800,000 to resolve an investigation of its broadband-related merger conditions. The FCC said it began the probe after it was tipped that Comcast was not properly marketing its standalone broadband services, violating a condition of its merger with NBC Universal that requires the cable operator to offer reasonably priced Internet services to consumers who do not subscribe to its cable offerings.
That’s one wicked about-face for Steve Burke. The Comcast executive, after fiercely resisting for 12 years paying broadcasters any retransmission fees, appeared to find religion yesterday, surprising a media conference audience by promising to doggedly pursue “millions of dollars” in — wait for it — retransmission fees for his NBCU unit. “Retransmission consent dollars is not a good thing for the cable side of Comcast, but it’s going to be a very good thing for NBCU,” he told a host of investors at Bank of America’s annual media conference.
The jury’s still out on Comcast’s merger with NBCUniversal in Hollywood. Wall Street likes the shared progress by the paired companies, but NBCU’s recent track record is uneven. Execs nonetheless maintain that the company is rushing toward a hopeful future as it approaches the merger’s one-year anniversary.
Comcast Corp. won a judge’s approval for its acquisition of NBC Universal with conditions that will maintain court oversight of the deal for two more years. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington ruled yesterday that the Justice Department and the combined company must report on arbitration actions initiated by online video distributors under the final judgment. The distributers feared they would lose access to NBC’s content because of the acquisition.
Exclusives
When Comcast was angling to take over NBCU, the cable giant promised prominently to increase the profile of minorities at the company and launch eight independent cable networks, including four under African-American control. But a Who’s Who of African American media figures and civil rights leaders are frustrated that Comcast doesn’t seem to be moving fast enough, if at all.
A federal judge Wednesday threatened to hold up court approval of the merger of Comcast Corp. and General Electric‘s former NBCUniversal unit, criticizing the Obama administration’s antitrust settlement that allowed the merger. The deal was completed in January, but the merger settlement between the companies and the Justice Department is subject to review by a federal court. The court’s review — and approval — is usually a routine part of merger settlements, but a federal judge has the power to undo an agreement or force changes to it.
The TV streaming company wants all documents, files and more regarding FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker and ivi.
Meredith Attwell Baker, who announced earlier this week that she was leaving the agency to join the lobbying operations of Comcast, defended her actions on Friday, saying she had no contact with Comcast about potential employment while the company’s merger with NBC Universal was pending before the commission earlier this year.
FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker plans to resign to take a job as the Washington, D.C., representative of NBCUniversal. Baker confirmed that she is leaving the post on June 3, but did not say what her intentions are. Comcast-NBCU, however, issued a release saying she will join Comcast as senior vice president of government affairs, NBCUniversal.
Starting in June, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area will provide daily sports coverage for NBC’s San Francisco O&O, the first case of the cable company’s sports content replacing a traditional sports report at a Comcast-NBCU station.
To win government approval to take over NBC Universal last month, cable giant Comcast agreed to let online rivals license NBC programming, including hit shows. Comcast also agreed not to block its 17 million broadband subscribers from watching video online through Netflix, Apple’s iTunes and other rivals yet to come. Although they apply only to Comcast and NBC, these conditions could serve as a model for other big entertainment companies in dealing with new online competitors.
NBC Universal chief Steve Burke said that with regulatory approvals behind it and the joint venture deal officially closed, his initial focus will be to help the cable networks maintain their leadership position in the industry, while improving its broadcast operations may take a little more time.
Shortly before midnight ET on Friday, Comcast assumed control of NBC Universal following government approval of a deal that gave the cable giant 51% control of NBCU, which owns the nation’s fourth-ranked broadcaster, NBC; the Universal Pictures movie studio and related theme parks; and a bevy of cable channels including Bravo, E! and USA.
In a Town Hall meeting today, the two companies are officially merging. Each employee is given 25 shares of Comcast stock (worth $582.50) and a free family pass to a Universal theme park.
NBC Universal’s new chief executive will try to revive the NBC lineup and end the public discord that was often more interesting than the network’s shows.
Vivendi has sold the remainder of its stake in NBC Universal to GE, clearing the way for Comcast to become the majority owner of NBCU. Vivendi sold its remaining $3.8 billion to GE on Monday, bringing the total sale price of its stake to $5.8 billion, excluding dividends, Vivendi said.
Rep. Maxine Waters blasted Comcast’s acquisition of NBC-Universal, calling the terms imposed on the merger by federal regulators “meaningless.”
FCC’s Two-Faced Stance On Broadcast TV
While the FCC under Julius Genachowski is actively moving to take spectrum away from TV stations, which the chairman calls an “obstacle” to America’s broadband future, its conditions placed on the Comcast-NBCU deal indicate just the opposite. The commission has decreed that NBC and Telemundo stations must produce an additional 1,000 hours of “original, local news and information programming” as groups. To me that shows that the FCC is implicitly recognizing the continued importance of broadcasting in the media mix.
Bloomberg Wins In Comcast-NBC Conditions
Embedded in the rules that the government is imposing on Comcast’s acquisition of NBC Universal is one that specifically benefits Bloomberg LP, the financial news giant that owns Bloomberg Television.
Comcast To Give Up NBC’s Mgt. Role At Hulu
In its successful bid to acquire NBC Universal, Comcast was not forced to sell off any assets. It did agree, however, to give up NBC’s management role in Hulu, the premier online TV Web site, while retaining a financial stake.
FCC Imposes New Obligations On NBC O&Os
The FCC’s approval of Comcast’s $13.75 billion takeover of NBCU requires the O&Os to air “thousands of additional hours of local news and information programming.” In addition, the agency said, some of the stations must enter into cooperative arrangements with locally focused nonprofit news organizations and they must provide free, on-demand local programming. According to an FCC source, NBC and Telemundo stations must also air a fourth hour of children’s programming each week.
The Comcast-NBCU merger is poised to go to the FCC for final approval this week, with a final close of the deal to create a new cable and programming giant planned for Jan. 28.
Walt Disney Co. has expressed some concerns about the conditions the FCC wants to put on Comcast Corp.’s proposed deal to take control of NBC Universal regarding how Comcast operates with the growing online video marketplace.
Federal regulators aren’t expected to decide this week on whether to approve a merger of Comcast and NBC Universal, as they weigh placing conditions on Internet access, as well as other requirements, according to sources familiar with the reviews.
With the FCC and the Justice Department gearing up to give their blessing to Comcast Corp.’s proposed deal to take control of General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal, a flurry of last-minute lobbying is being done by both those in favor and those against the marriage of the two media giants.
The Comcast-NBC Universal transaction was not on the agenda for the next FCC open meeting, leaving insiders to speculate whether the FCC will vote on the joint venture before Jan. 25.
Comcast is pledging to establish partnerships between news nonprofits and at least five of the 10 NBC O&Os. The partnerships will be modeled on an existing relationship between NBC’s KNSD San Diego, and local news site voiceofsandiego.org.
The public interest groups say the FCC record is not complete without Comcast programming contracts; the MSO maintains it complied with info requests.
One of the FCC’s proposed conditions on the Comcast-NBCU deal will force the merged company to offer NBC’s shows to any Web competitor. That could be a sign that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is trying to kill Hulu.
The FCC chairman is circulating an order among the other commissioners that would approve the deal if conditions regarding program access, localism and diversity, among others, are met.
The long-awaited completion of the takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast will have to wait until the new year. Outgoing NBC Universal CEO Jeffrey Zucker sent a memo to staff this afternoon explaining that regulatory approval of the deal, under which Comcast will acquire 51% of NBCU from the General Electric Company, will not be finalized by the end of this month, as Comcast executives had hoped.
America’s beloved television is getting an extreme Internet makeover, and questions over what shows viewers will see online and how much they pay for them could soon be resolved by the FCC. In coming weeks, the commission is expected to decide on Internet access regulation and a proposed merger by Comcast and NBC Universal that could chart a new course for the future of TV.
Comcast Corp. will offer new programming targeted at African and Asian Americans if it is allowed to buy a majority stake in General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal, the company announced this week in agreements with civil rights groups.
Five Asian American organizations have come out in support of Comcast’s proposed deal to control NBC Universal after Comcast agreed to expand Asian American programming in a 16-page memorandum of understanding.
Incoming House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton counseled the FCC to not delay a decision on the Comcast-NBCU merger, saying it could create more uncertainty for businesses “looking to invest, innovate and create jobs.”
Regulators are pushing for tough conditions to ensure that Comcast can’t stifle online video services by withholding content or pushing up prices for marquee NBC programs at a time viewers are starting to turn to the Internet for recent movies or the latest episodes of Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock and other popular TV shows.
