Now that the Olympics are over and Jay Leno's back on late night, the focus can return to Comcast's effort to purchase 51 percent of NBC Universal--the network of said Olympics and Leno.
Comcast and NBC execs are pulling in gold medal mileage and late night hours on the Northeast Corridor between New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. going to the nation's capital again last week trying to assure legislators that independent programmers won't end up in the cold if the mega-merger happens. Comcast Chairman-CEO Brian Roberts testified that the media monster would be "happy to sit down" with independent content producers and diverse networks to make certain their voices--and programs--are heard.
Convincing the feds is only part of the deal, albeit an important one, since the execs continue to go through a regulatory ringer. Comcast is not really a union company and the Communications Workers of America see that as a red flag with "huge problems in terms of jobs and workers' rights in the industry," said Larry Cohen, the CWA's president.
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