The Federal Communications Commission held a public hearing in Chicago Tuesday on the Comcast/NBC Universal merger. Free Speech Radio Network has a good overview of the hearing. I particularly liked this comment from Josh Silver of the Free Press:
He says the merger would be yet another giveaway to industry giants at the public expense:
JOSH SILVER: Policymaking at the behest of the largest companies across industries is threatening our economy, our oceans, our security and the very viability of our democracy. Just look at the ongoing recession or the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico for the most recent examples.
It’s telling that this hearing was attended by only one FCC commissioner, Michael Copps. He spoke in opposition to the merger, but industry experts expect the FCC to ultimately approve it, with conditions. Copps was interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer and made a good point:
Copps warned that other media companies would seek government approval for their own mergers if Comcast were allowed to move forward with its proposed acquisition of NBC Universal. And that, he said, could lead the nation down a dangerous path of diminished newsrooms and fewer independent voices on television.
“If you let our competitor get big, you have to let us get big” would be the attitude among Comcast’s competitors, Copps said. Control of the Internet could consolidate into the hands of a few big corporations, in a manner similar to control of radio stations across the country, he said.
You are going to get a lot more of these mergers, and acquisitions, over the next few years, at least. Many of these companies are unifying, rather than competing, because the environment has become so hostile to businesses. With all of the new regulations pushed down from the Federal and State governments, these companies have to join forces to defend themselves from law suits, massive tax increases, and demonization from government entities. This is not only happening with Comcast, but here in our little sleepy town of Peoria too.
Has anyone been looking around lately to see all of the OSF signs popping up everywhere? I bet many of my Liberal friends, on this blog, would criticize this as the evils of capitalism. However, ironically, this is a direct result of the socialist style government that we are seeing. These companies are allowing themselves to be bought up because they need a big corporation to protect them from the financial loss associated with the new healthcare law. Many of these small doctor’s offices and clinics cannot make it in this new world alone. In fact, it isn’t just small offices; many hospitals are looking at this option too.
The truth of this situation is, if you want to get diversity and differing opinions in the media you have to loosen restrictions, and get rid of the regulatory power of the FCC over content. People are in business to make a profit. People are not going to shell out tens of thousands of dollars in licensing and regulatory fees, without even being able to offset these costs by actually operating and making money. This is a fact of business.
Lastly, ever wonder why there are so few media outlets in a socialist, communist, or fascist government structure? It might have something to do with government regulation. This is something that idiot of an FCC commissioner Cobbs should consider when they propose restricting the free market with rigid content based regulation (speaking about his radio station remark)…