Update: FCC, Justice approve Comcast and NBC joint venture

[Indy Red]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2011/01/the_federal_communications_com_8.html

Federal regulators on Tuesday approved Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal, allowing for a joint venture that puts a vast library of television shows and movies under the control of the nation's biggest cable and broadband Internet ...

[dwaldrep51]

"INDYCAR needs to break its contract with Comcast/Versus"

are the days of hearing this nonsense now gone?

[Grizzlor]

Great, can't wait for my FIOS bill to go up when CC/NBC strong arms them. I hope this leads to something for IndyCar.

[WhirlinGraphics]

Great news for IndyCar! Especially if the benefits happen quickly and are promoted quickly. This also marks the start of infrastructure companies (ie Comcast) getting out of that business and into the business of content production. Expect everyone else to follow closely behind.

[stnkypete]

"INDYCAR needs to break its contract with Comcast/Versus"

are the days of hearing this nonsense now gone?

No, but NBC SUX threads are probably just arround the corner.

[numetalbizkit]

No, but NBC SUX threads are probably just arround the corner.

If they hire Bill Weber, we'll probably end up hearing that, (even though I like Bill Weber).

[JMFVET]

No, but NBC SUX threads are probably just arround the corner.

Some people will always look to find a negative.

[Fro]

Great, can't wait for my FIOS bill to go up when CC/NBC strong arms them. I hope this leads to something for IndyCar.

Agreed, outside of the huge benefit to IndyCar I'm not a fan of the merger.

[Gomer Simpson]

Well, now the negotiations can officially begin.

[Grizzlor]

If they hire Bill Weber, we'll probably end up hearing that, (even though I like Bill Weber).

Not after how he got canned by TNT.

[Tara]

Think Comcast will try to strongarm NBC in rate increase .

[Indy-hp]

I absolutely hate Comcast. Their customer service is absolutely horrible and they jack up their rates every chance they get without a corresponding improvement in services. I fully expect this merger will simply make Comcast even greedier and will not be good for the general public in the long run.

On the other hand, if IndyCar can now be moved off of an obscure channel where the sub-1 ratings are half what they were on ESPN, and moved to a major network, then I will rejoice. Unfortunately, I doubt that will happen.

IMO, at best the merger might result in a rebranding of Versus as the NBC Sports Channel or some such, which might have a higher profile than Versus due to that rebrand. We'll see, but I'm not holding my breath for IndyCar to suddenly appear on the NBC broadcast network.

[jcmark611]

Here is the million dollar question that no one has asked:

What does this new company think of their IndyCar property?

We are just assuming that the new company will immediately bump IndyCar into a prime slot, or better slot that it is now. We also are all just assuming that the new company will try to elevate Versus. Right now I don't think anyone here knows the answer. We can speculate, but in the end only a handful of people know whats going to happen over the next 6 months to a year.

[indyrjc]

Here is the million dollar question that no one has asked:

What does this new company think of their IndyCar property?
.....

Good question. And everyone has to remember that the reason IndyCar ended up on Versus in the first place was because they were drawing so poorly on ABC/ESPN. Unless, something really changes why would the new company suddenly elevate IndyCar to one of their "major" networks? Maybe there's a reason but I certainly don't know what it would be.

[Oben]

On the other hand, if IndyCar can now be moved off of an obscure channel where the sub-1 ratings are half what they were on ESPN, and moved to a major network, then I will rejoice. Unfortunately, I doubt that will happen.

IMO, at best the merger might result in a rebranding of Versus as the NBC Sports Channel or some such, which might have a higher profile than Versus due to that rebrand. We'll see, but I'm not holding my breath for IndyCar to suddenly appear on the NBC broadcast network.

I'd like to believe that your "at best" is actually "at worst," but time will tell I guess.

Based on RB's past remarks I've gotten the impression that he wanted to buy time, but that the Versus deal had tied his hands. Now I'm wondering if the merger might have just untied his hands.

I'm eager to watch this thing play out. I hope there are some people with vision at Comcast/NBC that agree with IZOD's opinion about INDYCAR's upside, and decide to give it a boost. The current TV deal is choking the sport.