Hollywood is giving Philadelphia a little taste of its own medicine, greeting the arrival of Philly-based media giant Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA)with a loud booooooo!!! and a stinging rebuke, as applied by Brian Lowry writing in entertainment industry bible Variety.
Comcast, Lowry asserts, is "off to a clumsy kickoff in assuming control of NBC Universal, appearing either oblivious to the complications of absorbing such a sprawling entity, or, worse, indifferent to the collateral damage."
Lowry conceded that NBC needs work--that show business executives are well compensated and shouldn't go whining when someone new comes in and replaces them, as has apparently happened to NBC honchos Jeff Zucker and Jeff Gaspin (and might it be a good idea for anyone at NBC named Jeff to get a resume on the street ASAP), and that gossip is a daily staple in Hollywood. But Comcast has mishandled even the rumor mill when it comes to executive changeouts, throwing out rumors then leaving them in place to "uncomfortably fester."
"Even allowing for low expectations ... Comcast has managed to limbo under the bar," he wrote. What makes things worse--or at least questionable, is that Comcast is pulling this all off even "before the company formally wins regulatory approval, making you wonder why such a frenzied rush," he concluded.
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