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Yet the Comcast/NBC deal sailed through. Frankly, I think that's the path AT&T was hoping to follow: pass out a few lobbyist jobs, sail through.

• delinka 15y ago
  "Yet the Comcast/NBC deal sailed through." That's because neither are cell phone carriers. As long as people feel like they can jump to another service to watch their precious American Reality Dancing Survivor Fear Idol (say by ditching the wires and going satellite or vice versa), then they don't too much care about cable and entertainment companies. Now, if NBC suddenly stopped making its programming available to anyone except Comcast cable subscribers, you'd start seeing public backlash. Until it happens, people can't fathom or choose not to acknowledge something like that happening.
  • roc 15y ago
    > "Now, if NBC suddenly stopped making its programming available to anyone except Comcast cable subscribers" Comcast is already playing games with NBC-competing networks in direct violation of the terms they agreed to, when the merger was rubber-stamped. (e.g. The Bloomberg TV/CNBC channel kerfuffle) Also, most Americans have more freedom to choose a competing cell service provider than a competing cable provider. If a choice between two-to-three viable options is sufficient for them to not care about cable, why would they care about cell service being reduced to two-to-three viable options?
    • nuclear_eclipse 15y ago
      You don't have to buy a new TV to switch between cable or satellite providers, but you do have to buy all-new phones to switch between cell carriers.