Competition Reality Paves Way for Comcast-NBCU Approval

The reality of vibrant competition in every segment of the proposed Comcast-NBCU joint venture, combined with the companies' proactive public interest commitments, will pave the way for ultimate Government approval of this deal.

Vociferous anti-business opponents like FreePress have preemptively kicked up a lot of dust about this proposed deal, but when FreePress' initial contrived dust cloud settles -- the reality of competitive facts will ultimately drive the process. 

• FreePress' standard MO of "fire, ready, aim," will expose their completely out-of-date competitive characterization, their non-neutral mindset, and their lack of an open-mind in pre-judging an outcome before they have the facts.
• FreePress is today's equivalent of Aesop's fable "The boy who cried wolf."
  • FreePress has one tiresome prank it plays over and over and over again, that the big company "wolf" is going to devour the Internet, free speech, democracy, localism, diversity... using whatever perjorative-buzzword will agitate its activist network to donate to its anti-business cause: Save the Internet, Stop Big Media, Save the News, No Merger!.  
  • FreePress may giggle like the boy in Aesop's fable at how they can always get some new people to fall for their latest "boy cries wolf" escapade, but most people who have seen FreePress operate over time know that the "wolves" that FreePress have shouted about are not "wolves" and that no "sheep" have ever been devoured as FreePress charges.     

The competitive facts show there is no substance behind the FreePress' anti-business salvo against the merger. There are plenty of competitors to:

• NBC and Telemundo in network programming;
• Universal Studios in movie making;
• Universal in theme parks;
• Hulu in online video (Google's YouTube has ~15 times Hulu's 2.6% online video market share); and
• Comcast's video offerings, high-speed services, and voice services (which by the way this joint venture does not affect at all.)

Everyone should take FreePress' histrionics about this merger with a grain of salt, because FreePress opposes private sector ownership of communications networks and our current free enterprise system.  

The competitive reality here is that neither the DOJ/FTC nor the FCC have any legitimate basis to entertain blocking this merger. It will get done.