Comcast reportedly making bid for NBC Universal

And so it begins. Pretty soon we will be forced to choose our cable / satellite providers based on what content they have and not the service the provide.

YUP! Sad no? They'll kill the parks too, btw. I wonder if Merlin Entertainment has any interest in buying Universal now....

Aren't they already a major partner? 50% +/-?

Blackstone (and by association Merlin, if not outright ownership) does own at least 50%, so I'm curious how this would play out. I certainly don't like the sound of Comcrap owning NBC, and I'd be just as averse to the parent company of Dish/DirecTV owning CBS or ABC.

That's already happened with the Versus channel. Comcast owns it and Direct TV doesn't get it so I can't watch the Capitals games at most bars.

Jason Hammond said:
Aren't they [Merlin] already a major partner? 50% +/-?

[/Merlin]

Merlin's parent company, Blackstone, owns 50% of the Universal Orlando resort. The other 50% is owned by NBC Universal. GE owns 80% of NBC Universal; Vivendi owns the other 20%. Vivendi wants out and Comcast is considering buying that 20% in addition to 31% more presently owned by GE

BDesvignes said:
That's already happened with the Versus channel. Comcast owns it and Direct TV doesn't get it so I can't watch the Capitals games at most bars.

Exactly.

I wonder if this would survive FCC scrutiny of all things. A cable company with huge market share, in both television and Internet offerings, owning a huge content company, raises a ton of red flags for me.

Universal's new opening time: sometime between 8 and 12.

I was thinking the same thing, Jeff. This doesn't sound right to me. Does anyone know what happened with their first attempt to buy Disney in 2004? The article just says they were unsuccessful.

Personally I think it should be illegal for a cable/satellite provider to have ownership in any networks or stations.

The problem with that, Don, is that going back to circa. 1977, if the cable companies didn't own the stations, the stations didn't exist. So the compromise answer is something that looks an awful lot like the much-argued, much misunderstood concept of "network neutrality". Hey, it's not just for broadband internet access!

Conan O'Brien announced this during his monologue on The Tonight Show. I like his reaction: "NBC executives are still trying to figure out what's in the deal for Comcast."

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

RideMan said:

Conan O'Brien announced this during his monologue on The Tonight Show. I like his reaction: "NBC executives are still trying to figure out what's in the deal for Comcast."

Interesting.. Conan is even unfunny in print..

I'm getting a fuuny feeling that eventualy, Comcast will control ALL programing and entertainment and Walmart will be doing ALL the retail in this country.

Next thing you know, we'll be watching "Everybody Loves Hypnotoad!"

Don't forget Google! Google will rule teh internets, giving us our daily dose of LOLcats.

I've always said that Google and Wal-Mart would one day rule the world. Comcrap, however, that's new to me.

I wonder if this means rides at Universal parks will eventually be re-themed to promote shows on Comedy Central, SyFy, Cartoon Network, Lifetime, etc.

^ I could see that happening for sure. Rollercoasters named after South Park lol ;)

Kenny rides SOB to his death.

Perhaps we will actually see the John Denver Experience in a park someday?