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Friday - Nov. 20, 2009

How Comcast's Competitors View the Proposed Purchase of NBC Universal - Part II

How do cable giant Comcast's competitor's view the company's bid to take control of NBC Universal? Hint - They don't like it.

• How do other cable companies view Comcast's quest for NBCU?
  They don't like it. (Post Tech)
• How does DBS provider Dish Network feel about the proposed merger?
  Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen doesn't like it much either.(Post Tech)
• Would Comcast/NBCU be big enough to take on Disney/ESPN?
  Maybe. Analysis of the impact on sports cable from USA Today's Michael Hiestand. Comcast already owns the Golf Channel and Versus. And NBC has Olympic broadcast rights. Remember, Comcast tried to take over Disney back in 2004.
• And just how in the heck does Comcast fit in to the Ticketmaster/Live Nation proposed merger?
  Can't claim that I understand this one. Finance geeks? Go nuts. (Basically, Comcast owns arenas that Ticketmaster and Live Nation promote shows at. I think.)
• How will NBC affiliates react to the purchase?
  Not sure on this one, but Comcast clearly sees them bringing value to the table.

Link

Thursday - Nov. 19, 2009

Everything You Need To Know About Comcast's Proposed Purchase of NBC Universal - Part I

Trying to keep up with the changes taking place in the media landscape recently is a full-time job. I thought I had closed out the newspaper chapter for the third edition of Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, when word came about the shuttering of several gay newspapers and suggestions that the fundamental market for the gay press had changed. That led to Tuesday's blog post and a flurry of e-mails between me and my editors.

But there's a much bigger change hovering on the horizon - the likely change of controlling ownership of NBC Universal. NBCU has been owned for the last several years primarily by General Electric, a major provider of consumer products, military and industrial products, and financial services. Speculation started circulating back in late September/early October that Comcast, one of the nation's largest cable companies was trying to buy a 51 percent stake in NBCU, which would give it control of how the network/film company would operate.

Today we will look at issues surrounding the merger itself. Tomorrow we will see how competitors view the proposed merger.

• Who, other than GE, currently owns NBCU?
  That would be the French media company Vivendi SA, which also owns the world's largest music company. As of right now, GE owns 80 percent of NBCU, and Vivendi owns 20 percent. Every year Vivendi has a several week window in which the company can sell its stake in NBCU. The question investors are wondering about is whether GE will be able to buy out Vivendi's investment. (Bloomberg)
• If Vivendi doesn't reach an agreement to sell its portion of NBCU to GE, what could happen?
  According to Diane Mermigas at investment news web site Seeking Alpha, Comcast could buy up 51 of NBCU directly from GE without the Vivendi portion; Comcast could abandon its quest for NBCU and buy other, smaller content companies, or NBCU could be sold to another company such as Liberty Media or News Corp. (though how News Corp. would be allowed to own both NBC and Fox is beyond me).
• What would federal regulators have to say about the merger?
  According to the Wall Street Journal, the proposed merger would draw a lot of scrutiny from regulators. Expect approval to take six months to a year.
• Where did Comcast come from, anyway?
  The Associated Press provides a history of Comcast from 1963 to the present day
• Just who is Brian Roberts?
  Beyond being CEO of Comcast....

Link