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Monday, November 22, 2010 — Today, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) asking them to investigate Comcast’s compliance with federal antitrust laws in light of its recent announcement of its proposed leadership for NBC Universal. Since the proposed merger between Comcast and NBC Universal has yet to be approved, Sen. Franken asked the DOJ to evaluate whether Comcast’s recent actions constitute what’s known as “gun-jumping,” or illegal collaboration between pre-merger companies.
Comcast’s announcement comes despite an earlier assurance to federal regulators not to announce further personnel changes “until the deal closing process and timing is certain.”
Sen. Franken wrote in the letter, “The Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission have yet to complete their review of the proposed Comcast and NBC Universal merger. And yet, by publicly announcing their intended managers of each component of NBC Universal, Comcast has effectively told employees at NBC Universal who their ‘real bosses’ are…Comcast has every right to promote its business and this merger. It does not have the right to effect that merger absent explicit federal approval, or indirectly control or influence NBC Universal until that approval is granted.”
You can find the full text of the letter here.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Who here thinks that Bob Greenblatt will bring more creativity to NBC? Perhaps he could be this generations Brandon Tartikoff?
Umm, isn’t Franken absolutely right in this case? Seems like comcast engaged in a lot of hubris here…
Ironic that Franken himself was an NBC employee whilst at SNL. No loyalty!
Hate to burst your bubble, but even As an NBC employee he wasn’t that loyal to the network. Remember his 1980 tirade on SNL against Fred Silverman (“Limo for the Lame-o”)? Al’s just making up for lost time here.
Hate to burst your bubble, but Al Franken’s tirade against Fred Silverman was the equivalent of Stephen Colbert’s Word segments. Fred Silverman shows more respect in his little pinkie than Jeff Zucker shows in his entire body.
No wonder our country is in perils….How about concentrating on deficit reduction or something more constructive for ALL Americans other than a merger of your former employer!
This is something constructive. If you don’t think there will be a cleansing of employees within a year of the merger, you are living in a dream world. Not only will people lose their jobs as Comcast re-organizes the company to streamline operations and cut out redundancies but the fact that one company controls so much of the media is not a good thing.
It’s not like the combined NBC Universal/Comcast will have a whole lot to offer.
NBC really hasn’t brought any new hits on broadcast television. With the exception of Dispicable Me, 2010 has been an embarassment for Universal Studios with the underperformance of Funny People and the Wolfman, the flat out bombing of Scott Pilgrim, and simply being unable to produce more than one hit. Vivendi still owns Universal Music Group, so it’s not like Comcast will have any say on that front. And finally asides from MSNBC, CNBC, the Weather Channel, USA, E!, the cable channel line up of both Comcast and NBC Universal is pretty damn pathetic.
Both Time Warner and News Corp used to own Time Warner Cable and DirecTV, and nothing wrong really happened. And they are far more successful media companies than NBC Universal is. They just simply came to realise that the synergy between owning content and the distribution of content just isn’t there. Which makes me wonder why Comcast is so desperate to get into the content business.
Yes.
Media in fewer and fewer hands means bigger and bigger lies.
And the greatest lies, of course, are lies of omission.
Good going Al; derail the merger so NBCU employees will remain stuck under GE ownership.
What it REALLY prooves is that when it comes to money and power – they seem to trump Federal oversight and public debate everytime in this country.
Obviously Comcast has already been assured of getting Federal approval and that the formal hearings are just for show. No surprise really… afterall the same people who control the government also control the media!
He’s pissed over the fines they’re paying.
-RnsW
It’s amazing how many Right-wingers claim to respect the law but when someone actually tries to point out that laws are being ignored, those same Right-wingers are only too happy to defend ignoring the law.
The merger hasn’t been approved yet. Franken is pointing out that there are laws that are being ignored or broken. That is his duty as a senator.
As for ridiculous claims that Franken should be loyal to NBC as a former employee, that’s disgusting. He’s a U.S. senator. His first loyalties are to the American people, not to a company.
Frankly, this may come as a shock to some of you, but the days of company loyalty are long dead. Companies flushed that concept away a long time ago.
“His first loyalties are to the American people, not to a company.”
Amen Ellen!
And you’re right, company loyalty ended a long time ago. I believe it began around the period when the trickle-down theory was being pitched and the only thing that happened was that workers were trickled on!
It is still very hard to believe this moron is a senator. I realize our Congress is filled with mostly unexceptional people, but this jackass is truly bottom of the barrel.
Well done, Minnesota.
wow man, i know. a senator protecting shareholders and workers by making sure that the laws of the united states are upheld? what a freakin narc, man. oh hey man quit hogging all that grass huh? pass that sh#t before you go off to your tea party.
So, in summary, Franken is correctly pointing out that Comcast is possibly in violation of Federal laws by announcing new managerial and organizational changes BEFORE their merger is even approved. However, because he has a (D) after his name, the Drudgebots conveniently ignore standing law and hurl insults. Typical. Sad.
That “moron” is one of the hardest working Senators from any party and a very strong policy and constitution “wonk”. Even if you don’t care for his party or politics calling him a moron exposes the simple fact that you didn’t do any research to back up your attack.
Check what his local newspaper and constituents (from all parties) have to say about him. It’s called google, learn how to use it and perhaps the rest of us will be spared from your uninformed commentary.
Cheers,
James
If you ever bothered to listen to Al Franken when he had a morning show on Air America, you would know he’s spent a considerable amount of time researching political issues.
In fact, it was Franken’s disgust with Rush Limbaugh’s distortions of the truth that led him to a political career in the first place. To call Limbaugh out on ignoring or twisting facts, Franken had to do his homework and find out the truth.
It’s truly amazing how right-wingers can disparage a man who’s devoted himself to understanding complex issues while giving a pass to some of the most ignorant conservative candidates this country has ever seen, e.g. Sarah Palin and her gaggle of Tea Party candidates.
Besides, all this partisan warfare is really meant to distract the American public from the real problem: the big corporations over-influencing the American political system. From media conglomerates to insurance companies to Wall Street, these companies are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying efforts and undisclosed contributions for candidates and political ads to subvert the democratic process so that nothing stands in their way of bilking the American taxpayer.
Al Franken is one of the few politicians who actually cares about the public at large. While most, if not all, conservative pols are schilling for oil, health insurance, media and financial companies, Franken is looking out for the best interests of the typical taxpayer.
Good for you, Minnesota.
James, you ignorant sl*t.
Isn’t it smelly/hypocritical/corrupt the way Conservatives complain about “the media” and yet do everything they can to concentrate it in the hands of fewer and fewer owners (who are ALL Conservative) while spreading the Big Lie that the media are Liberal?
Go Senator Al. Make this the Al Franken Decade of Media Divorcement.
“His first loyalties are to the American people, not to a company.”
Amen Ellen!
And you’re right, company loyalty ended a long time ago. I believe it began around the period when the trickle-down theory was being pitched and the only thing that happened was that workers were trickled on!
Were it not for Sunday Night Football, NBC would have no reason to exist. If Stewart Smalley wants to get involved, more power to him.
Right, I mean, nobody watched The Today Show, Nightly News with Brian Williams, The Office, 30 Rock, SNL….yep, nothing but football.
I’m not a fan of Sen. Franken personally. However, I believe he is making a very valid point. Gun jumping will not necessarily prevent an approval of a merger. It will result in investigation and potential fines and/or orders.
The bravado of Comcast has been pretty high. They have made all of these announcements under the guise of “when this happens” and not “if this happens.” Not only are there anti-trust implications, there are also potential SEC violations as both companies are publicly traded…
Stupid liberal
“They have made all of these announcements under the guise of “when this happens” and not if this happens.”
Sorry there slugger, but the deal is going to happen. True, the government might impose certain conditions, but the deal is going to happen. It’s only a matter of when and with what conditions.
Do you honestly think that the Comcast & GE folks would really go through with all they have done so far if they didn’t know something?? They know that the deal is going to be approved.
Slugger?
I never said it wouldn’t go through. I said that Comcast was making their announcements as a “when this happens.” That is textbook jumping the gun statements. Because they aren’t just statements, they are statements based on actions they have already taken…
Slugger indeed. Go read up on anti-trust law. Then you talk about “reality” and “law.”
Isn’t anyone concerned about a content-creator merging with a content-distributor?
It’s amazing how many people support giant corporations in their quest to eliminate all regulations that protect the public from getting screwed over.
Is there any one group of people so inherently fu*ked-up as the ditto-heads and their conservative friends? All I can say is what the [expletive deleted]!!! Over and over again these j-holes take the side of the very corporate institutions that seek to destroy America’s middle-class of which, I assume, they are – currently – members. Why don’t you pull your heads out of your collective asses long enough to SEE what these very CORPORATIONS are doing to this country? All I can say is you better enjoy your middle-class existence WHILE YOU CAN ditto-heads because you won’t have it long if you keep supporting these corporate OWNERS of the GOP.
At least Al Frankin is trying to open people’s eyes.
Looks like people are already losing their jobs after these announcements. what would happen at NBC if the merger doesn’t go through?
This whole thing has a heaping stink on it – not dissimilar from the smell of AOL Time Warner. Never mind the painfully obvious anti-trust issues or the fact that Comcast is the very worst company there is in its existing business…but by all means lets allow them to control a legacy studio and network and pinch off content from other providers.