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Comments on news posted 2013-02-13 08:13:58: After acquiring a majority stake in NBC Universal for a deal worth $13.8 billion back in 2009, Comcast this afternoon announced they'd be buying GE's remainder share of NBC for an additional $16.9 billion. ..

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Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

Morac

Member

Content provider + content deliverer = less competition

This deal seals Comcast as a content provider seeing as it will own all of NBC Universal. Comcast also owns Xfinity which is a content deliverer.

What happens when deals that would benefit Xfinity (such as peering with Netflix's Open network) would result in competition with NBC Universal?
Hint: It's less competition.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Lots of cash changing hands.

Here is where all that money comes from to do the buyout:
quote:
The transactions will be funded with $11.4 billion of cash on hand, $4.0 billion of subsidiary senior unsecured notes to be issued to GE, $2.0 billion of borrowings under Comcast and/or subsidiary bank credit facilities and $725 million of subsidiary preferred stock to be issued to GE.
Morgan Stanley handled the deal. I bet they made a big chunk of change and a couple VPs will get million $ bonuses this year.

wizkid6
join:2002-03-31
Opelika, AL

wizkid6 to Morac

Member

to Morac

Re: Content provider + content deliverer = less competition

quote:
Comcast also owns Xfinity

Xfinity is a brand, not a subsidiary. Comcast is the service provider, not "Xfinity."

anon guy
@charter.com

anon guy

Anon

NBC to be 1st broadcast network to go all cable

Might take 5-7 years but NBC will cease to be a broadcast network by 2020. ABC to follow by 2023, then Fox by 2025 CBS may take until 2030. Enjoy OTA while it still exists.

Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

Morac to wizkid6

Member

to wizkid6

Re: Content provider + content deliverer = less competition

said by wizkid6:

Xfinity is a brand, not a subsidiary. Comcast is the service provider, not "Xfinity."

That's a nit-pick on my choice of words. My point still stands.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Transmaster to FFH5

Member

to FFH5

Re: Lots of cash changing hands.

Wow all that money for such a pile of bird quano.

Snakeoil
Ignore Button. The coward's feature.
Premium Member
join:2000-08-05
united state

Snakeoil

Premium Member

So can comcast restrict access to NBC?

If comcast wanted to make NBC exclusive to only the subscribers of it's service [like Dish did with blockbuster, verizon with Redbox], would that be allowable?

Though I'd think they'd miss out on a lot of money by doing that.
Also, that makes them owners of USA and Syfy?
eco
Premium Member
join:2001-11-28
Wilmington, DE

eco

Premium Member

Simple answer: no. FCC rules prevent it.

Snakeoil
Ignore Button. The coward's feature.
Premium Member
join:2000-08-05
united state

Snakeoil

Premium Member

Hmm, I wonder how much money Comcast would fork out to change the rules?
As they purchased the ok for the NBC purchase anyhow.

BillRoland
Premium Member
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL

BillRoland

Premium Member

If only

If only the gubment would buy a broadcast network, then we could be sure we were getting great competition and the highest quality, truthful news.

ITALIAN926
join:2003-08-16

ITALIAN926 to eco

Member

to eco

Re: So can comcast restrict access to NBC?

I thought those rules were lifted, thought I read a headline on this site.
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory to Morac

Member

to Morac

Re: Content provider + content deliverer = less competition

I thought Xfinity was a Comcast brand, not a separate company from Comcast?

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

I'm watching an NBC station right now

I'm watching an NBC station (WWLP-TV) right now on Comcast. I don't see any carriage disputes in the near future.

I'm sure NBC will require that it's affiliates sell Comcast retransmission rights at rock bottom prices. Now that Comcast owns the content, the profits will keep rolling in as Comcast does not need to pay NBC for carriage rights since they are now NBC.

Fortunately Comcast does not own every cable/broadband system in the country like AT&T and Bell System before 1984. State typically have a dominant cable provider like Massachusetts (Comcast with a touch of Charter), Maine (2 parts Time Warner to 1 part Comcast) and Iowa (predominantly Mediacom with a few overbuilders). Florida is predominantly Comcast.

I just found out that one of my friends from high school moved to Florida going from rural telecom cooperative territory to Comcast turf.

FarmerBob
join:2000-12-21
Littleton, CO
Calix 716GE-I
Netgear Orbi RBK853
Netgear RAXE500

FarmerBob

Member

The End is near.

It really doesn't matter how long TOA is around, there's nothing on now anyway. All the good stuff gets canceled and replaces with cheap junk. And Comcast can't make any worse programming decisions than NBC already has. Although they'll have to learn that if they want to dominate the world we'll have to like them. Oh wait, no we won't.

And the FCC will not block anything if they did not block this and all the other questionable mergers forecasted. FCC=$$$$$$$$
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina to anon guy

Member

to anon guy

Re: NBC to be 1st broadcast network to go all cable

Maybe all IP streaming? Comcast doesn't serve the entire country yet and something tells me if they only play nice with other cable providers (stiffing Telco carriers), the gub'ment won't stand for it. However, Comcast could serve the entire country if they took NBC off the air and went all IP streaming.
NoHereNoMo
join:2012-12-06

NoHereNoMo to FFH5

Member

to FFH5

Re: Lots of cash changing hands.

Ultimately, though, that money will come out of the pockets of Comcast's customers--many times over.
zed260
Premium Member
join:2011-11-11
Cleveland, TN
Netgear R7000

zed260 to eco

Premium Member

to eco

Re: So can comcast restrict access to NBC?

said by eco:

Simple answer: no. FCC rules prevent it.

correct answers yes

comcast now owns nbc there are 2 options for carrying channel nbc on cable that comcast can do they can use must carry rules to require any other cable company to provide it or they can elect to charge a fee say 3 dollars for your local nbc channel

comcast owns the content the fcc give ota broadcast stations great leeway in how they use that content heck in some markets

»chronicle.augusta.com/ne ··· -station

they already took away the channel from dishnetwork briefly
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina to Snakeoil

Member

to Snakeoil
Will they do that? In other words, will they remove NBC from the air and only provide it to their customers? Possible but since Comcast doesn't serve the whole US (yet), wouldn't that be limiting the ROI on NBC content? As one example, if that were to happen, the NFL would pull Sunday Night Football from NBC. It's in the NFL's interest (and their advertisers) to make sure games with a solo time slot are viewable by as many as possible.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to NoHereNoMo

Premium Member

to NoHereNoMo

Re: Lots of cash changing hands.

Where else would've it come from? Comcast is a business that exists because of revenue derived from its customers.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina to IowaCowboy

Member

to IowaCowboy

Re: I'm watching an NBC station right now

While it might be "funny money" floating around within the mother ship, if the NBC entity is considered a separate corporation with its own board, CFO and financials, I think they'll have to charge the Comcast cable LOB the same price as other carriers. In the wholesaling business, the FTC gets upset when the same product isn't offered to all at the same price. Granted, there can be contracts, volume discounts/kickbacks and other ways to game the system but in general, that kind of tactic is sniffed out by those paying higher prices and they complain loudly.

AlexNYC
join:2001-06-02
Edwards, CO

AlexNYC

Member

NBC's Universal Sports still not on Comcast

I never understood this: Comcast does not carry NBC's Universal Sports and they are supposed to be the same company essentially. The greedy bastards at NBC puled their programming from basic cable and OTA, so they can charge more and Comcast told them to go F themselves.

Aren't family feuds great?
zed260
Premium Member
join:2011-11-11
Cleveland, TN
Netgear R7000

zed260 to rradina

Premium Member

to rradina

Re: I'm watching an NBC station right now

said by rradina:

While it might be "funny money" floating around within the mother ship, if the NBC entity is considered a separate corporation with its own board, CFO and financials, I think they'll have to charge the Comcast cable LOB the same price as other carriers. In the wholesaling business, the FTC gets upset when the same product isn't offered to all at the same price. Granted, there can be contracts, volume discounts/kickbacks and other ways to game the system but in general, that kind of tactic is sniffed out by those paying higher prices and they complain loudly.

thats where lobbying comes in heres a few mill congressmen now hush hush and let us keep pillaging those poor consumers
tkdslr
join:2004-04-24
Pompano Beach, FL

tkdslr to FarmerBob

Member

to FarmerBob

Re: The End is near.

They already have... another 4 billion of debt.. and 11.4 billion in cash to pay for that remaining market share..

All that expense is going to have negative consequences.

I just wish the sat co's would let us unbundle OTA channels from their overpriced packages.. If not, I'll build a HTPC and reduce my monthly expenses to just a few dollars of electricity..

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

cdru to Morac

MVM

to Morac

Re: Content provider + content deliverer = less competition

Comcast was already the majority owner. Whatever it wanted to do it could already do. Nothing much changes regarding your subject line prior to this buyout or after.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 edit

FFH5 to Transmaster

Premium Member

to Transmaster

Re: Lots of cash changing hands.

said by Transmaster:

Wow all that money for such a pile of bird quano.

Corporate leadership is rarely innovative - they all attend the same seminars by the same consulting firms. And my experience over the last 40 yrs is that they ping pong between 2 extremes based on whatever business philosophy the consulting firms are currently pushing.

On one end is the diversification philosophy - have your fingers in a lot of different pies so that if any piece of the conglomerate is down, the others will cover for the part having problems.

On the other end is the "core competency" philosophy - do ONLY what you do best and sell off or outsource the rest. Meaning an ISP should only do that and nothing else.

So Comcast is currently in the diversification philosophy which apparently is making shareholders happy. A lot of Comcast's customers and the chattering activists want them to be in a "core competency" phase.

But don't worry, eventually those in the diversification phase get to the point that they become ever more inefficient trying to manage such a large enterprise, and stockholders get unhappy at lower marginal returns. New mgt comes in and starts moving the company in to the "core competency" phase as they sell off underperforming parts of the company. The company becomes more efficient; returns improve and shareholders are once again happy.

Rinse & repeat over and over again.

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

cdru to rradina

MVM

to rradina

Re: I'm watching an NBC station right now

Not to mention local affiliates are the ones that negotiate rates with Comcast for carriage, not the national NBC network. Exceptions to this are the 10 owned and operated stations NBC owns. If NBC flexed their muscles against a station in retaliation for negotiations between the station and Comcast, I would expect to see the fecal matter hit the impeller in Washington.
46436203 (banned)
join:2013-01-03

46436203 (banned) to anon guy

Member

to anon guy

Re: NBC to be 1st broadcast network to go all cable

Enjoy cable while it still exists.

The Internet is going to make traditional TV viewing methods extinct.
46436203

1 recommendation

46436203 (banned) to BillRoland

Member

to BillRoland

Re: If only

That would be awesome.

I am envious of the UK's BBC and Japan's NHK.

Either one of those two government organizations puts out more quality content than ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox combined.

InTheKnow
@verizon.net

InTheKnow

Anon

I can't wait to see peoples cable bills in a year or so...

I say they will go up at least 30%.
15444104 (banned)
join:2012-06-11

15444104 (banned) to zed260

Member

to zed260

What else needs to be said.

We The People's government no longer works.

The tyranny, and corruption is to pervasive and too all inclusive to be changed or challenged by anyone that is a part of the system.
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