Comcast’s Weight in Washington

Comcast continues to throw its weight around in Washington to win support for its proposed takeover of NBC-Universal.

The corporation is using a familiar recipe to cook up support — one that Washington analysts know all too well. Susan Crawford, formerly a technology policy advisor in the White House and who is writing a book about the Comcast/NBCU merger, recently told the New York Times, “You hire all the lobbyists and lawyers in town; you hand out contributions to every politician you can think of; you buy the affections of every group that might complain about the merger, and you strike fear in the hearts of anyone who will need to do business with you in the future.”

The Times lays out some of the statistics that highlight Comcast’s immense power in the nation’s capitol:

• From January through June, Comcast had paid $6.9 million to lobbyists. It paid $12.6 million in 2009 (NYT and OpenSecrets.org).
• Comcast has about 30 lobbying firms on its payroll (NYT).
• Comcast and its employees have given roughly $2.5 million in campaign contributions so far in this election year (NYT).
• Comcast has also been pouring money into charities and foundations connected to members of Congress (See this graphic from an earlier NYT article).

One sign that  this is all an elaborate snake-oil sales job is that one of the key salesmen for the deal – NBC CEO Jeff Zucker – just announced that he would step down once the deal was approved. After spending months telling Congress and the American people  about the merits of the deal, and how committed he and NBC are to working with Comcast, Zucker is going to jump ship. This should call into question every positive thing he said about the deal.

If this merger was really going to serve the public, would all of these pay-offs and all of this spin really be necessary? It’s clear this deal shouldn’t pass muster with the leaders in D.C. who are supposed to protect people like you and me. The question now is, will Washington side with another giant corporation, or the American public.

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Rep. Johnson to the FCC: Don’t Rush the Comcast Merger

If there’s anyone who might have a thing or two to say about the proposed merger between Comcast and NBC-Universal and its effects on market competition, it would be the Chair of the House Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy.

And as it turns out, he does – and he’s concerned. Rep. Henry Johnson, Jr. (D-Ga.) sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to explore the competition implications for the mega merger. This unprecedented merger of a distributor with a content provider would mean that Comcast will not only own NBC’s content, but also control access to that content online, on cable and over broadcast.

Rep. Johnson wrote that the merger could “transform an industry” and “lead to a cascade of similar transactions,” making it imperative that the FCC “get their analysis correct” and “ensure that consumers are protected.”

Read the full letter here.

A growing sea of voices continue to express alarm over the proposed mega-merger between Comcast, voted America’s Worst Company, and NBC. Just yesterday, the Coalition for Competition in Media urged lawmakers to schedule a final public hearing to allow more citizens to speak out about the unprecedented merger.

You can add your voice, too. Tell your lawmakers that you oppose the deal.

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