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Comments on news posted 2009-12-03 10:06:58: Comcast and General Electric sent out announcements to the press this morning saying that the long-expected Comcast and NBC Universal deal is official. ..
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 | | this is a Free Market..
Philly has a company that is trying to be progressive is that too for the city to handle...
I find it interesting that Americans are against US companies growing. isn't this a free market.
Companies like Cisco and HP make it a habit of buying tons of smaller software companies every year that have no direct connection to their business models.. this joint venture is totally in line with Comcast's businesses.
So if the FCC approves they have a right to grow in this direction.
And if Time Warner is capable of coming together with CBS than why stop it...
We as American are falling so far behind the rest of the world in innovation because we only speak up when we fear our rates are going to be impacted or we will not be able to pirate software or a song.
We need to jump in with the rest of the world when it comes to extreme engineering, or building our infrastructure, and our electronic communications.
We are lagging behind the world..just traveling outside of our country easily proves that..in other countries businesses and governments are teaming up creating all types of new innovated things that are positively changing lives. I hope this venture has a positive plan...that remains to be seen..
If the FCC approves this deal I am cool with it... | |
| | jus10
join:2009-08-04
Sterling, VA Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| Re: this is a Free Market.. I don't see anything even approaching "free market" in the telecom industry. You have a few monopolistic/duopolistc entities doing everything they can to stay in power. They are one of the best examples at the failure of a free market and of government corruption / incompetence. | |
| | Lazlow
join:2006-08-07
Saint Louis, MO | kata017
It is funny, most of the reason you state this is a good thing is exactly why it is a bad thing. In most of the rest of the world there are real competitive markets not just on competitor in the market. Home many homes in the US have more than two cable options(satellite does not count)? Most people(with a cable option) in the US can have one choice, cable or no cable. | |
| | |  ptrowskiGot Helix?Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
kudos:4
 ·VOIPo
| Re: this is a Free Market.. said by Lazlow:kata017 It is funny, most of the reason you state this is a good thing is exactly why it is a bad thing. In most of the rest of the world there are real competitive markets not just on competitor in the market. Home many homes in the US have more than two cable options(satellite does not count)? Most people(with a cable option) in the US can have one choice, cable or no cable. Right. So it is a great thing as a sole "mega company" if you wish controls more and more of TV, phone, interwebs and now movie and TV content?
At what point will Comcast become self-aware? 
--
"So, Lone Starr, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb."
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage? »www.venganza.org | |
| | | | Lazlow
join:2006-08-07
Saint Louis, MO | Re: this is a Free Market.. No, a sole "mega company" is the exact opposite of what I want. | |
| | | | | ptrowskiGot Helix?Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
kudos:4 Reviews:
·VOIPo
| Re: this is a Free Market.. said by Lazlow:No, a sole "mega company" is the exact opposite of what I want. I was agreeing with you.
--
"So, Lone Starr, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb."
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage? »www.venganza.org | |
|
bac522
join:2003-08-04
Manchester, NH | "The World is Not Enough" Anyone remember the Bond film "The World is Not Enough"...tell me the CEO from Comcast couldn't have played the villain in that movie and not even have required the use of script!
This company violates more anti-trust laws then Microsoft and Intel combined! I would really love to see how much money Comcast spends on lobbyist because one has to really shake their head on how Comcast is allow to get away with this BS. Granted this deal hasn't gone through regulatory review and lets hope it doesn't. | |
|  EGeezerSummertimePremium
join:2002-08-04
Midwest
kudos:7
·Callcentric
| Time Warner Redux. So, they're going to acquire NBC Universal, theme parks, a bunch of cable channels and Hulu in one stroke. Their vision is of a vertically integrated content provider - production, distribution, internet, video, entertainment from start to finish.
Yeah, that'll work - but only if Comcast has learned from the Time Warner/AOL Steve Case debacle. Otherwise, saddled with debt and minimal merger restructuring savings, they'll cut back service and quality and spin off what they purchased for a big loss. And, the customer will be paying higher costs to pay for the debt and overhead associated with the merger.
--
The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. -- Justice Louis D. Brandeis | |
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1 edit | Propaganda awaits! Every NBC show now will have a banner at the bottom. Comcast buy comcast!!!! Brain Williams will be telling you to buy the triple play package during the evening news. | |
|  bentand IngaPremium
join:2004-10-04
Loveland, CO
1 edit | Over diversification . | |
| jfmezeiPremium
join:2007-01-03
Pointe-Claire, QC
kudos:22 Reviews:
 ·ELECTRONICBOX
| NBC under GE wasn't that succesfull Consider the glory days of NBC where it was tops in ratings with shows like Friends. When those shows ends, it is normal to have a network drop for a while before they are replaced with new winners.
NBC has not managed to find new winners. Its only good decision was to stick with 30 rock until it took off. But then again, it isn't a very difficult decision when you have nothing else to replace it with.
I don't like a cable company buying a content producer. But on the other hand, it appears that under GE, the onwers failed to hire the right type of management to get NBC back on a winning track. If Comcast can make the necessary changes to re-invigorate NBC, then perhaps it would be a good move compared to status quo. | |
| Reviews:
·Optimum Online
 ·Verizon FiOS
| and then there was... ONE LE$$ media outlets in fewer controlled hands....
since big business media is in so few controlled hands, you might as well be out in the open with saying that NBC's now solidly in the hands of propaganda control of Comcast, the same way the fox network is in the control of Murduck El'turdBird's! The honeymoon is also over at ABC/Disney who stopped being the liberal media outlet for a decade that it was.
And... the deckplates on the titanic "mainstream" American Propaganda machine rotate as the ship rolls forcefully into the iceberg that is new media (the internet). Let the newly minted deceaded roll over in their graves at the dumbing down of American life once again! | |
|  amarryatVerizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA
·Verizon FiOS
| Antiquated infrastructure While they gobble up cable companies, networks and movie studios, they neglect their infrastructure. While Comcast has spent billions on acquisitions, Verizon has spent billions on infrastructure.
If any of you live in an area that had a cable company acquired by Comcast, you know what I am talking about. I switched to FIOS 2 years ago, and the Comcast system here (previously Adelphia) is no different than it was 6 years ago. | |
| | | | Re: Antiquated infrastructure said by amarryat:While they gobble up cable companies, networks and movie studios, they neglect their infrastructure. While Comcast has spent billions on acquisitions, Verizon has spent billions on infrastructure. And now is selling off states and markets left and right and neglecting upkeep on any system they didn't bother to deem important enough to upgrade.
said by amarryat:If any of you live in an area that had a cable company acquired by Comcast, you know what I am talking about. I switched to FIOS 2 years ago, and the Comcast system here (previously Adelphia) is no different than it was 6 years ago. I highly doubt that. While you may not see many changes, Many of the Adelphia systems I've seen or heard about were in REALLY sad shape due to the years of fraud and neglect within the company before it's remenants were taken over by TWC and Comcast.
Step 1 for Comcast is to repair the neglect and improve reliablility of the system. Step 2? Put in the backend required to allow expandability of the system (say, running the fiber to connect it to their backbone, etc). Step 3, start the upgrade processes. Even then, the upgrades may or may not be easily visible to a standard customer, or even huge earth-shattering customer facing upgrades. | |
| | | amarryatVerizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
| Re: Antiquated infrastructure said by Adelfiat :
I highly doubt that. While you may not see many changes, Many of the Adelphia systems I've seen or heard about were in REALLY sad shape due to the years of fraud and neglect within the company before it's remenants were taken over by TWC and Comcast.
Put it this way - when you enter the guide or access the vod, it looks and functions exactly the same as it did many years ago. There have been ZERO changes. In order to watch something on demand requires approx. 1 minute, and that is if it doesn't crap out. I have multiple neighbors who experience this baloney.
Contrast that with Verizon where updates and enhancements are coming out constantly. | |
| | | | | | Re: Antiquated infrastructure said by amarryat:Put it this way - when you enter the guide or access the vod, it looks and functions exactly the same as it did many years ago. There have been ZERO changes. In order to watch something on demand requires approx. 1 minute, and that is if it doesn't crap out. I have multiple neighbors who experience this baloney. Contrast that with Verizon where updates and enhancements are coming out constantly. Adelphia markets tend to be SA, right? Since Comcast uses SARA, the interface itself tends to not change, but there are changes in the background. Even the VOD system makes constant changes to improve it's performance and capacity, but those tend to again be done in the background/headend without an interface change.
FIOS is a new product that doesn't have to support old boxes like the Explorer 2000's, so they can afford to push newer software/updates to their system because of higher box capabilities across all their customers. VOD also is done via IP on the FIOS plant, vs RF like on Cable, so it's comparing apples to oranges.
Also, depending on how big the system is, and how bad of shape it was in when Comcast took over, it can take years to undo all the damage and upgrade it. Running new COAX, Feeder, replacing all the taps, nodes, actives, etc on a plant is not a quick and/or easy process. If you include the limited time available per day to do the work and added complexity needed to avoid causing major customer impact (IE. cutting all services while you re-run an entire node and then connect each drop to the new run), and you can see why it can take some time to do those kinds of system repairs.
Now don't take all this as Comcast apologizing, all I'm saying is that in a cable plant even if the changes aren't seen by customers there can be a LOT going on behind the scene's to improve the customer experience. This might be similar to the subtle changes in a Telco network from the old circut switched phone calls to IP switching. You still used your phone the same way, but it improved the quality,speed, and reliability of your phone connection. Especially when making those long distance calls. | |
| | | | | amarryatVerizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
1 edit | Re: Antiquated infrastructure said by Adelfiat :
Adelphia markets tend to be SA, right? Since Comcast uses SARA, the interface itself tends to not change, but there are changes in the background. Even the VOD system makes constant changes to improve it's performance and capacity, but those tend to again be done in the background/headend without an interface change.
FIOS is a new product that doesn't have to support old boxes like the Explorer 2000's, so they can afford to push newer software/updates to their system because of higher box capabilities across all their customers. VOD also is done via IP on the FIOS plant, vs RF like on Cable, so it's comparing apples to oranges.
Also, depending on how big the system is, and how bad of shape it was in when Comcast took over, it can take years to undo all the damage and upgrade it. Running new COAX, Feeder, replacing all the taps, nodes, actives, etc on a plant is not a quick and/or easy process. If you include the limited time available per day to do the work and added complexity needed to avoid causing major customer impact (IE. cutting all services while you re-run an entire node and then connect each drop to the new run), and you can see why it can take some time to do those kinds of system repairs.
Yes we had the SA boxes.
(Edit - and I liked the SA box. I liked that it had picture-in-picture, and that it never rebooted itself. When I first switched to Verizon, I thought that those Motorola boxes were junk, though thru updates they are better now. I believe the native Comcast areas use the same Motorola boxes as Verizon???)
I understand that running new coax etc. is going to take a long time. However they don't need to do that to upgrade their VOD do they?
The day we got VOD on Comcast it sucked. And it still sucks today for those who have it (in the 2 ex-Adelphia areas in which I have lived and are now Comcast). The performance is still just as bad as it was in terms of the delay and when it fails to start and you must start over. They did "upgrade" the VOD by adding in a "Comcast" and a "Please wait" screen, each of which appear for about 30 seconds before something happens.
I have not seen Comcast doing any rewiring in my area, and though I realize that doesn't mean that they aren't, I do know that the antiquated interface (which is the visible part of the infrastructure to which I refer), has not had any significant changes in many years. That's what I meant by neglect.
As an aside, I believe that they will also have to update their physical plant as well to get the signals to where they need to be. Verizon dumped tons into fiber and was criticized by some financial experts for doing so, but Comcast doesn't seem likely to do the same and that infrastructure will continue to become more and more obsolete. At my last address as well as this one before I had FIOS, I had the Adelphia and then Comcast customer service number programmed as a speed dial on my phone due to the frequency at which I had to call to report outages. I have had FIOS for 2 years, and there has been ONE outage (internet only), a month or two ago, due to some router in NYC. | |
| | | | | | | | Re: Antiquated infrastructure said by amarryat:Yes we had the SA boxes. (Edit - and I liked the SA box. I liked that it had picture-in-picture, and that it never rebooted itself. When I first switched to Verizon, I thought that those Motorola boxes were junk, though thru updates they are better now. I believe the native Comcast areas use the same Motorola boxes as Verizon???) Yes, Comcast has a lot of motorola markets that use similar boxes to Verizon. I believe Verizon uses QIP boxes vs. the DCT/DHT ones that Comcast uses, but the tech inside of them is mostly the same.
The big difference is Verizon exclusively has newer boxes which allow them to more fully take advantage of the box capabilities whereas Comcast still has a lot of older boxes they must support limiting what they can do.
said by amarryat:I understand that running new coax etc. is going to take a long time. However they don't need to do that to upgrade their VOD do they? The day we got VOD on Comcast it sucked. And it still sucks today for those who have it (in the 2 ex-Adelphia areas in which I have lived and are now Comcast). The performance is still just as bad as it was in terms of the delay and when it fails to start and you must start over. They did "upgrade" the VOD by adding in a "Comcast" and a "Please wait" screen, each of which appear for about 30 seconds before something happens. 9 times out of 10 those failed loads and sometimes the delay has to do with RF issues. When you start VOD the cluster creates a session and tells the box which frequency and mpeg to tune to for the VOD session. If you have RF issues, the box may either not get the session information, or have problems locking into the QAM carrier for the session. either way it'll time out and fail forcing you to restart.
So yes. Plant upgrades/repairs might be necessary to improve the VOD experience.
Then you have the back-end VOD server/cluster upgrades that fix glitches and other problems that may not be so noticable from the customer perspective.
Also keep in mind VOD works differently on a SA cable plant vs. a Moto Cable plant vs. the Moto Fios plant.
SA you browse the menus and everything thru that interactive session on the cluster. Moto Cable (with iguide) some of the VOD menu information is already pre-loaded on the box with the guide information so you aren't always interacting with the cluster until you actually start a program. Verizon Moto is IP, so you don't even hit a VOD QAM like with a cable plant and instead it's more similar to netflix/hulu than cable VOD.
said by amarryat:I have not seen Comcast doing any rewiring in my area, and though I realize that doesn't mean that they aren't, I do know that the antiquated interface (which is the visible part of the infrastructure to which I refer), has not had any significant changes in many years. That's what I meant by neglect. As an aside, I believe that they will also have to update their physical plant as well to get the signals to where they need to be. Verizon dumped tons into fiber and was criticized by some financial experts for doing so, but Comcast doesn't seem likely to do the same and that infrastructure will continue to become more and more obsolete. At my last address as well as this one before I had FIOS, I had the Adelphia and then Comcast customer service number programmed as a speed dial on my phone due to the frequency at which I had to call to report outages. I have had FIOS for 2 years, and there has been ONE outage (internet only), a month or two ago, due to some router in NYC. As for right now, Comcast is still pushing fiber out deeper with node splits and the like, but is still using copper for the last mile. Unlike ATT's UVERSE product though, because it's still a cable plant it has more potential growth using copper over the last mile. Comcast is actually upgrading pretty much everyplace for DOCSIS 3 which with channel bonding will allow for higher internet speeds that could match Fios' current dowstream options.
They are also doing work to cleanup their RF plant, which with the pushing fiber deeper will allow for higher upstream speeds than what is currently available (64QAM and later 256QAM upstream). That RF work also improves the reliability of the plant lessening customer outages. Some markets are better than others, but overall I think I've read that customer contact rates, trouble calls, and ESPECIALLY Repeat trouble call percentages are down dramatically across the entire entire company compared to where they were even a year ago.
Because of the cost (and difficulty) in running fiber, there is a reason Verizon has only run it in higher density areas. comcast has a LOT of lower density markets it services so the hybrid fiber/coax plant offers a lot of cost advantages while still giving a lot of improvements. As Fiber costs come down, it's easier, cheaper, and faster, to then push fiber the rest of the way out to the home than Verizon's from the start.
You also have to give Comcast props when compared to verizon, because even though it may take longer for them to push updates and/or upgrades to their entire system, they aren't neglecting the infrastructure or trying to get rid of it all together in those less dense parts of their coverage area. (ie. Verizon may be doing things right for their FIOS markets and treating it very well with updates and upgrades, but they've been completely ignoring their legacy plants or trying to unload them as Karl has documented numerous times) | |
|
 Jwobot
join:2002-08-14
Sterling Heights, MI | NBC loser executives Why thing we don't have to worry about anymore is NBC suits complaining about TV watchers DVRing shows. | |
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