Public hearing opens on Comcast NBC merger

Only one Federal Communications Commission member, Michael Copps, is scheduled to be at the public hearing today here on the $30 billion mega-merger between two media giants: Comcast and NBC Universal. NBCU is owned by another corporate giant, General Electric.

The hearing, called a showdown by consumer and public interest groups, is being held at Northwestern University’s Thorne Auditorium from 1 – 8 p.m. T

he merger, these groups say, could result in higher Internet and cable prices and layoffs for workers, restrict video and content access and inhibit minority/gender diversity among owners, boardrooms, writers and producers.

Chicago is the site of the hearing because of Comcast’s large market share here, with 2.1 million cable TV and Internet subscribers, and its central location. Comcast employs 7,500 workers in the area.

Chicago is one of only three cities where NBC has a TV duopoly, owning both Channel 5/NBC and Channel 44/Telemundo.

The media industry is already heavily monopolized, with a mere six giant corporations owning as much as 90 percent of everything Americans see, read, listen to and watch.

While this merger is smaller in terms of billions, compared to the merger nine years ago between AOL and Time Warner, it has much bigger potential for the Comcast-NBCU corporate entity to control markets, due to the technology merging between TV and Internet through broadband.

Local media activists say the merger will also continue the trend of firing and downsizing news staff.

“This is a huge issue,” said Steve Macek, a professor of media studies at North Central College in Naperville, Ill., and an activist with Chicago Media Action.

A merged Comcast-NBC “will suck up all the advertising in the market,” hurting revenues for other broadcasters and adding pressure among them for more layoffs, especially in newsrooms, he said.

“We’ll see stations cutting back on news staff and perhaps doing away with news altogether.”
News watchers already complain of the “if it bleeds it leads” and “infotainment” trends in local news.

Minority journalists say the merger will continue lack of fair coverage of communities of color, and lack of employment opportunities for professionals.

This merger — like virtually every media consolidation to date — will lead to fewer journalism jobs, less coverage of the Latino community, and less diversity of voices, said the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in opposing the proposal.

“We have seen the devastating impact media consolidation has had on newsrooms,” said Ivan Roman in a statement. He said the public interest commitments made by Comcast in pushing the merger are “troublingly unclear.”

The FCC has “stopped the clock” on its 180-day review because of lack of information from the companies. It has asked NBC and Comcast to provide additional information. The Department of Justice Anti-Trust Division is also reviewing the merger.

Cuts in newsrooms and other media departments means layoffs and more unemployment for an already hard-hit industry, critics say.

Job loss is routine in giant media mergers, said Macek. The opportunity to reduce workforces is “one of the big motivations for these mergers,” he said.

Simply paying off the $8 billion debt required to finance the merger will require job cuts or cable rate hikes, or both, said Seth Rosen, vice president for District 4 of the Communication Workers of America.