Buying NBC Universal is no Mickey Mouse deal for Comcast Corp., but it strikes many as goofy.
We still haven’t heard directly from General Electric or Comcast executives about why this deal will change the entertainment industry as we know it. The official announcement of what would be Comcast’s biggest prize could come as soon as Thursday.
But speculation has bubbled since early October about what a disaster this deal would be for the cable television giant. I don’t think I’ve read a single pop analysis that concludes this is a masterstroke for Comcast.
That’s because AOL Time Warner, the $111 billion media merger to end all mergers in 2000, proved to be such an unmitigated disaster. With lots of academic research showing that most big acquisitions rarely pay off, it is not surprising that the reviews of this deal are so bad.
It takes years before true success or failure can be declared definitively. But here’s what I’ll say about Comcast: It is the only Philadelphia-based company in the last 20 years that has not only sought to dominate its industry, but accomplished it. And it’s not ready to settle down.
Comcast persuaded Microsoft Corp. to invest $1 billion in 1997 when the cable company was a bit player in the Internet world. It launched a hostile bid for Walt Disney Co. in 2004 that was as bold as it was unsuccessful.
Few would ever confuse Comcast’s Brian Roberts with Oracle’s Larry Ellison. But like Ellison, Roberts has proven he’s willing to take the shot rather than stand down range holding a bull’s eye.
That’s a rare, restless streak for a company that calls Philadelphia home. The more typical path taken by local corporate giants is the one taken by CoreStates Financial Corp. or, more recently, Rohm & Haas Co.: build up to a point and then sell out at maximum shareholder value. Great for the shareholders, but less so for civic pride.
So I’ll applaud Comcast’s gumption for once again pursuing what it wants from a Fortune 100 corporation. Along with everyone else, I’ll watch the fireworks that pursuit is sure to ignite from all sorts of special-interest groups.
Far from goofy, that’s entertainment.
Comcast should not receive any "props" for anything they have done. They have monopolized the cable industry cashing record profits while limiting access to competitive alternatives. Their customer service is now considered "improving", why; because the people working at the Faily News and Enquirer will have to find similar jobs in some other media conglomerate, why not Comcast? Brian Roberts is a thief.— mikeyg- how about this? while going before the FTV and other regulatory boards, Comcast should allow Dish Network and Directv to broadcast comcast sportsnet. having a lockdown on local sports forces many people to signup with comcast when directv and dish are usually cheaper.. let's see how good the lobbyists with CMCSA are with the Obama administration??— dstakias
- The writer of this title should not receive any props.
- It should be illegal for any cable provider to own any production houses/tv channels.— jlcharles
- Speaking about record profits...they cut their employee 401(k) match by 25% starting in 2010. Yeah, lets give them props....— tywebb3333
- Comcast will never get applause from the locals. Why? Because much of their prosperity has come at the cost of the local Philly market. They do not allow true competition b/cwhen hey bought the assetts of Adelphia and were forced to share Sportsnet with other cable operator like DirecTV they gt an excption here in their home market. When they wanted a new corporate HQ they blackmailed the city/State into building it for them despite their vast welath by threatening to move over to Jersey if we didn't offer them KOZ tax beaks. They stick it to their own community over and over! We built that company by giving them an exclusive able franchise and yet they have no allgiance or regard for their own home market. Highest cable rates they charge are here at home! Thats why its so hard to support and love Comcast.— MyTown
- doesn't the state own PATV? guess the state shouldn't own any channels either. or school districts for that matter.— irish77
- Also, Comcast typically underpays their employees by aout 10-20% but figures the free cable throwin or employees will make it all OK. Although with the rates they charge thes days that might equal the underpaymentof salaries soon.— MyTown
- ALSO, I'll maybe give them some props when they start to allow people to subscribe only to the channels that the subscriber actually wants to watch (a.k.a. ala carte programming). Why spend $150 a month on 300 channels when 285 of them are garbage? Why can't you subscribe to 5 or 6 channels of your choice??? I’ll tell you why. Has something to do with Comcast lobbying hard-core in DC that it is to expense to give people the right to only subscribe to the channels of choice…and that they need to subsidize all of the 285 other garbage channels or they (the garbage channels) might not be able to make it as a channel....hence cable bills continue to skyrocket way past the inflation rate...— tywebb3333
- Comcast building is not a KOZ, check your facts.— cesegal
- irish77, i would assume you are responding to me. I don't live in PA, so I don't know/care about PATV. When a cable provider also owns channels, you end up with the garbage we get with Comcast Sportsnet not being available on Directv or Dish. So there's a logical reason why they shouldn't be allowed under anti-monopoly laws.— jlcharles
- You all souns like haters, If you owned any business you too would want to dominate your industry, this is a good thing for Philly that a local company is this successful, stop hating— northphillyboy
- Being a producer and retail cable company, I wonder if the Robinson-Patman Act applies. Retail Comcast could have an unfair cost advantage in what it pays for NBC and Cable channels. Sat, Comcast Retail Cable gets charged .15 per subscriber for broadcasting NBC, but TimeWarner could be charged .30.... inflating the overall prices? Look at FTC vs Boise Cascade. http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/other/patman.shtm Truth is I cant wait to catch 30-rock when they remove the "GE parent company makes appliances" jokes and replace them with "Comcast, snow-balls at Santa, Philadelphia" parent company jokes— Mark Matthews
- I TOTALLY agree with tywebb3333 Posted 12:24 PM, 12/02/2009. With this NBC take over Comcast fees will probably get even worse - even prohibitive. I will NEVER have cable tv - or any pay tv service for that matter - unless I can only pay for WHAT CHANNELS I WANT TO HAVE AND WATCH - not what they want me to have and what they want me to watch - they are all thieves. I did the DTV conversion and that is working out just fine for me.— bargemini
- For all you morons complaining about Comcast not "sharing" CSN and CN8 with DTV or Dish, stop. They don't share because they DON'T have to due to the way they distribute the signal, not because they own or operate the stations. If you had total control over a channel which was highly in demand in an area, would you share the programming, while you continued to fully pay for the costs associated with that programming??? No I don't think you would. And I don't hear the outrage that you can't get the NFL Ticket on Comcast do I???— mike c
Mike Armstrong, a business editor and writer for nearly two decades, is the Inquirer's business columnist and PhillyInc blog editor. Contact Mike via e-mail or at 215-854-2980
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