Reported in several places, but not here (that I can find), today the FCC approved the merger of media giants Comcast and NBC. This was followed up by President Obama's Dept. of "Justice" dropping it's objections with a "negotiated settlement".
From the LA Times story;
Although Comcast and NBC Universal are not direct competitors and their corporate marriage did not trigger major antitrust issues, media watchdogs, lawmakers and competitors joined forces to warn that the combined company creates a de facto video drawbridge connecting consumers over the air, through cable and on the Internet.
Comcast can finally carry out its plan, unveiled 13 months ago, to combine General Electric Co.'s entertainment properties — which include storied broadcaster NBC, Universal Studios, the Spanish-language Telemundo network and a satchel of cable channels including USA, Syfy, Bravo, MSNBC and CNBC — with the country's No. 1 cable TV operator. Comcast will own 51% of the joint venture. GE will retain 49%.
(Emphasis mine)
Hopefully the likely consequences of this are apparent after witnessing the last 30 years of media consolidation, but just in case, Josh Silver writes in today's Huffington Post;
The new Comcast will control an obscene number of media outlets, including the NBC broadcast network, numerous cable channels, two dozen local NBC and Telemundo stations, movie studios, online video portals, and the physical network that distributes that media content to millions of Americans through Internet and cable connections...
...The merger further squeezes what's left of independent, diverse voices from the television dial, laying waste to President Barack Obama's promise to reign in runaway media consolidation. As a candidate in June 2008, he said:
"I strongly favor diversity of ownership of outlets and protection against the excessive concentration of power in the hands of any one corporation, interest or small group. I strongly believe that all citizens should be able to receive information from the broadest range of sources."
...Where's that Barack Obama today? He's on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal announcing an executive order that will "make sure we avoid excessive, inconsistent and redundant regulation," focusing on rules that "stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive." Given the president's long list of massive compromises to corporate lobbyists during his first two years, today's gesture to Wall Street is galling.
He continues with the question, "Why should you care about a business deal between a couple of companies?"
This merger will touch all corners of the media market, and you won't be immune. Comcast will jack up the prices that other cable and online distributers pay for NBC content, and those prices will be passed to you. That means higher cable and Internet bills, even if you don't subscribe to Comcast.
Where is our voice? Who is looking out for the public's interests today?
Of course this is just one more in an encyclopedic list of blatant corporatism, but this is going to effect you directly. Will more people wake up, or will the weeks of delay between this announcement and the implementation be sufficient for us to maintain our delusions?