News of the movement for December 3, 2009   Comcast-NBCU Merger Is Bad for Democracy The Comcast-NBC Universal merger is more than a routine business story. The merger signifies massive media consolidation. Putting so much power in the hands of one company -- and, specifically, its executives -- is dangerous for democracy. Marvin Ammori, Huffington Post Comcast-NBC Merger: Just Say No In response to the Comcast-NBC merger announcement, Free Press and the Consumer Federation of America released a new analysis showing why the deal poses a major threat to video competition that would seriously harm the public interest. The merger's potential to foreclose competition and stifle innovation is significant and real. Free Press Comcast to Buy 51 Percent Stake in NBC Universal Comcast will buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal in a deal valued at roughly $30 billion, setting up the cable company to achieve its ambition of becoming one of the nation's most powerful entertainment companies. Advocates and opponents alike say the role the new Comcast would play in the media landscape cannot be understated. David Folkenflik, National Public Radio Comcast Readies Itself for Long Regulatory Fight Foreseeing a long regulatory fight in its bid to control NBC Universal, Comcast outlined a number of public interest elements of the deal and said it remained committed to free over-the-air television for NBC. Brian Stelter, New York Times FTC and DOJ Will Duke It Out to See Who Gets to Review Comcast-NBC There may be a tug-of-war brewing over whether the Federal Trade Commission or the Justice Department will join the FCC in reviewing Comcast's deal to take control of General Electric's NBC Universal. Neither the FTC nor the Justice Department would comment on who should review the transaction. Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times How the FCC Might Stop the Comcast-NBC Merger The Stop Big Media crowd is promising all-out combat against a proposed Comcast takeover of NBC Universal. The deal will have to pass muster with the FCC's always controversial media ownership rules, which are again in flux. Those rules have changed in the last eight years; so what will they mean for the merger? Matthew Lasar, Ars Technica Waxman: Government Will Need to Help Shape U.S. Media A top Democratic lawmaker predicted that the government will be involved in shaping the future for struggling U.S. media organizations. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), said quality journalism was essential to U.S. democracy, and that eventually, government would have to help resolve the problems caused by a failing business model. John Poirier, Reuters How Google Can Help Newspapers With dwindling revenue and diminished resources, frustrated newspaper executives are looking for someone to blame. Much of their anger is currently directed at Google, which many executives view as getting all the benefit from the business relationship without giving much in return. The facts suggest otherwise. Eric Schmidt, Wall Street Journal Large Staff Cuts Announced at the Washington Times The Washington Times, the financially troubled daily newspaper owned by the Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, said that it would significantly cut its staff and drastically change the way it does business and disseminates its news. Ashley Parker, New York Times Tribune Chief Gives up One Title Samuel Zell ceded one of his titles at the helm of the Tribune Company to his top deputy, Randy Michaels, who was named chief executive, with Zell remaining as chairman. Richard Perez-Pena, New York Times Closing the Digital Divide Through Broadband Expansion The American way of life has changed dramatically, due in large part to our ability to communicate instantly via the Internet. However, not every American family can afford broadband services at home. Today, Americans, young and old, look to the Internet to provide necessary information to succeed, and in-home broadband service delivers an immediate wealth of knowledge to their door. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), The Hill Bandwidth Meters: First Step Toward Curbing Cord-Cutting? As promised, Comcast is making available bandwidth meters that will allow subscribers to see how much bandwidth they consume each month. For now, the meters are only available to subscribers in Portland, Ore., on a trial basis. But is this the first step toward curbing cord-cutting? Wendy Davis, MediaPost Groups Urge Changes to Broadband Stimulus Programs Two U.S. government agencies distributing $7.2 billion in broadband deployment grants and loans over the next year should make big changes before a second round of funding starts, several groups have told the agencies. Grant Gross, IDG News Service A Municipal Wi-Fi Model That Actually Works While New York City's mobile broadband network garners much attention concerning its ability to serve both public safety and multiple government agencies, Oklahoma City's Wi-Fi mesh network recently passed its third anniversary and is now the world's largest mesh network. Lynnette Luna, Urgent Communications The marriage of Comcast and NBC is bad news for consumers. But Washington and Wall Street have already bought into the idea that it's a done deal. That's why Americans need to speak out and stop the mega-merger! Why We Must Have a Free and Open Internet Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the FCC, recently stated that Internet providers must never be allowed to "discriminate against particular content and applications." As a result, the FCC has begun taking steps toward implementing rules aimed at keeping the Internet free and open. This is crucially important. Here's why. Forbes Cable Giants to Put Shows Online Customers of Comcast and Time Warner soon will be able to get their TV service in a new way: on their computers. In an unusual coordinated rollout involving many of the biggest competitors, the cable industry is embarking on a project dubbed TV Everywhere aimed at shoring up its franchises in the Internet age. Washington Post Big Cable to Offer Half-Price Internet Connections to Low-Income Kids After working with the FCC, the cable industry has unveiled an commendable plan to bring half-price broadband and discounted computers to several million low-income middle-school children. The bad news? It's slow, and if price really is one of the barriers to broadband adoption, it may not do much to help. Ars Technica AT&T Drops Suit Over Verizon Wireless Ads AT&T and Verizon Wireless agreed to drop lawsuits accusing each other of misleading marketing campaigns. AT&T dismissed its lawsuit against Verizon Wireless and its recent line of "There's A Map For That" commercials. Verizon Wireless dropped its request to have a judge declare its claims of "most reliable" and "America's best 3G network" accurate. Dow Jones FCC Sees 'Opportunities' in Reclaiming Broadcast Spectrum There may be opportunities for broadcasters to share 6 MHz channels in a market "without significantly disrupting the over-the-air television service consumers enjoy today," the FCC said. But the commission conceded that such sharing of capacity would affect "the number and type of signals" each could broadcast. Broadcasting & Cable Forget DTV; FCC Now Planning 'All-IP' Phone Transition The writing is on the wall for old school circuit-switched phone networks, and the world is going all-IP. Now, the FCC is gathering data to guide the next major transition of the country's communications network. Ars Technica Radio Measurement Tool Under Fire from Minority Stations A small pager-like device designed to measure radio station audiences could be muffling minority radio stations. At least, that's what minority and urban radio stations are saying. And Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is hoping to get some answers. The Hill Michael Jackson, Twitter Lead Popular Searches Providing their annual peek into the American psyche, the Internet's biggest search sites released their top search trends for 2009 -- a mash-up of swine flu and meatloaf recipes, Twitter and Michael Jackson, questions about how to get pregnant and how to be frugal in recession-clipped times. San Jose Mercury News FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age Dec 3: Washington, DC Bridging the Digital Divide Dec 8: Washington, DC FCC Workshop: Lessons for the National Broadband Plan from Local Officials Representing Under-served Communities Dec 9: Washington, DC Detroit Digital Justice Coalition Presents "Discovering Technology" Dec 12: Detroit, MI FCC Memphis Field Hearing on Digital Inclusion Dec 14: Memphis, TN True Spin Conference Jan 20-Jan 21: Denver, CO