Viacom to the FCC: Beware the Comcast/NBC Merger
[Source: StopBigMedia.com, by Josh Stearns, December 15, 2010]
Something surprising just happened.
One of the world’s largest media giants came out with a long list of concerns about the proposed Comcast/NBC-Universal merger. The LA Times reported this week that Viacom recently visited the Federal Communications Commission to outline its concerns about Comcast’s take over of NBC.
The LA Times reports:
Among the topics Viacom discussed were concerns it had that Comcast would have “increased incentive and ability to impede competition … by favoring its own content to the detriment of independent programmers. Viacom, the filing said, asked the FCC to “carefully evaluate” the effect that the deal would have on independent programmers “and consider taking steps to safeguard competition and protect unaffiliated providers of video programming from anti-competitive practices.”
At first glance, I was tempted to roll my eyes. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that Viacom merged with CBS, and then unmerged (sort of). But the more research I did, the more I came to see this as a serious and important critique of the Comcast merger.
Why is this significant?
First, fears that this merger will hurt independent programming are not new. In voicing its concerns, Viacom joins the ranks of a number of independent programmers worried that a combined Comcast/NBC could use its immense market power to favor its own content over that of unaffiliated companies. That means that Comcast can favor NBC shows over other programs. This would be particularly harmful to local and independent programming and would make it even harder to find alternative voices on the cable dial.
What is significant is that a company as big as Viacom is worried. That suggests that the new Comcast/NBCU will be so huge that other large companies worry that not even they can curb the new goliath’s potential for market power abuse.
To its credit, Viacom is the first of the Big Media companies speaking out against the deal. While a range of businesses across media and technology sectors have come out against the Comcast merger, Viacom is the first major production studio and content producer to weigh in. The LA Times points out that all the other big studios – Walt Disney/ABC, News Corp, Time Warner and Viacom’s step-brother CBS – have remained silent. While these other companies probably share Viacom’s concerns, they appear unwilling to rain on another Big Media brother’s merger – even if they stand to lose by it.
But while Viacom is a media giant, it actually has a history of looking out for diverse and independent programmers.
In a paper from 2000 Andrew Jay Schwartzmen discussed how Viacom had worked with his organization, the Media Access Project, to “promote diversity and open entry in programming markets.” During that time, Viacom was working to keep “one huge telephone company” from buying up a huge cable company “because it threatened to squelch program diversity and competition.”
While we think Viacom’s ownership of so much media brings its own set up problems for diversity of voices in the media, it’s important to acknowledge that the company has been one of the most vocal of the major media companies in supporting independent programming and competition.
Viacom, Albritton, Bloomberg, and host of smaller independent programmers are lining up against this merger in a significant way. Combine that with the ongoing pressure from citizens, public interest groups and lawmakers, and we’ve got one massive critique that regulators have to pay attention.
