Comcast Roundup: NBC deal could be announced next week, Bob Brady fights net neutrality and More
Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscription for our Comcast news updates.
- The New York Times reports that Comcast could announce a deal to purchase NBC sometime next week. Still, Reuters had reported that Comcast and General Electric were “struggling” to finalize that deal, though it remained “likely.”
- Broadcasting Cable reports that Comcast might be planning to sell off the NBC Network upon purchasing NBC Universal, keeping other components, notably Universal Studios.
- paidContent reports that talks with Vivendi, the French company with some ownership of NBC, are ongoing. But paidContent also reports that former NBC Universal CEO Bob Wright expects Vivendi to negotiate the deal. That blog additionally reports that Comcast executives said repeatedly during their third-quarter earnings call that they would be “disciplined” with any acquisition.
After the jump, Congressman Bob Brady backs a Comcast cause, the company’s third-quarter earnings call and a dozen other Comcast stories worth noting.
- Washington Post Post Tech blog reports again on this undercurrent of whether the deal to overtake NBC would even be allowed by federal regulators and what questions might arrise from the possible merger. H/T Philly Tech News
- Silicon Alley Insider says that Comcast should look to buy Netflix instead of NBC.
- Huffington Post reports that U.S. Rep. Bob Brady — who was seriously on TMZ last week — signed a letter to the Federal Communications Commission critical of its new network neutrality policies, something Comcast has beef with. Comcast is one of Brady’s top contributors, donating more than $50,000 in his 20-year career.
- The New York Times reports that Comcast says their profit rose 22 percent this third quarter, better than expected on the back of more phone and Internet subscriptions. The Wall Street Journal reports that that’s $944 million on revenue of $8.8 billion. DSL Reports that collectively Comcast is now servicing 46.8 million people in the United States — nearly one out of six Americans. MediaWeek reports that no comment was given during the earnings call about the NBC deal.
MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME
- Comcast launched its 4G wireless service yesterday, entering a suddenly busy field, according to a company press release. The Inquirer’s Bob Fernandez reports that Sprint Nextel and, as we previously reported, Clearwire have joined the fracas.
- Silicon Alley Insider reports that Verizon and AT&T broadband services aren’t having much noticeable impact on Comcast.
- Hollywood Reporter reports that Comcast plans to create an Asian-specific version of celebrity show E! News.
GIVE A GLANCE
- Cable Digital News reports that Comcast is calling a new IPTV program “Excalibur.” H/T Philly Tech News
- Cable Digital News reports that Comcast is planning an undisclosed number of layoffs.
When there is just too much Comcast news to follow, the Comcast Roundup will be there every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST
andrewlee on November 5th, 2009
The Silicon Alley Insider is the only story that gets it right. How many Excite-@Home, AOL-Time Warner mergers must we go through to realize they don’t work. Bandwidth does not content make. You think the tech-bureaucrats at Comcast know how to create great content + can make something successful out of NBC to better compete with the likes of HBO, Fox, AMC, Bravo, etc. etc. Culture, mindset, creative energy – not a match. If the deal goes through, rest assured, let’s say 3-5 years on the early side for NBC to be something much less than it is today, and on the outside 10 years and the whole thing goes away (sale, spinoff, reconfiguration, or other). Don’t need to be Nostradamus to predict this one – just have to look to the previous failed examples + note that there’s nothing different this time around.
Christopher Wink on November 12th, 2009
To be fair, Comcast has played, admittedly far less meaningful, roles in owning content creation — like a E!. Agreed, that’s no NBC, but isn’t it fair a telecommunications company might have more business with NBC than, say, a company that makes microwaves?
All that said, your suspicions should be real ones. Google is staying out of content creation for now and that might prove to be an important decision now that many of these companies look to be on the cheap — who’s right in the assessment is yet to be told.
-cgw