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The petition was prompted by the recent battle between
Cablevision and Disney-owned ABC which led to the latter pulling
its ABC signal in New York from Cablevision's lineup the day of
the Oscar broadcast; the two sides finally reached a new
agreement 15 minutes into the broadcast.
Unless the FCC acts on the petition, it's quite likely that more
broadcast networks will pull their signals in contract fights
with TV providers -- and deny you your favorite shows.
Now 14 other TV providers, including DIRECTV, Dish Network,
Cablevision, Time Warner and Verizon, signed the petition to
protect their viewers.
But not Comcast.
Why?
Comcast is buying a majority stake in NBC Universal, pending
federal approval. And so the cable operator doesn't want the FCC
imposing rules that would prevent NBC-owned stations from
pulling their signals in fee fights with TV providers, including
perhaps even Comcast itself.
Comcast is happy to put the prospect of higher programming fees
for NBC -- obtained by using the threat of removing NBC from the
lineups of cable and satellite operators -- over the interests
of their own cable subscribers and others.
In other words, Comcast says: screw you viewers. We don't care
if you lose your favorite shows or not. We are here to get more
money for NBC Universal.
The next time that Comcast says that it's here for you, just
remember that Comcast is here for Comcast.
Also see:
Consumer Reports: 'Best Buys' For
HDTVs
10 Best-Selling Blu-ray Movies!
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TVPredictions.com
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© TVPredictions.com
______________________________________________________
Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com.
He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast
outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The New York
Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial
Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can
be reached at
swann@tvpredictions.com
or
at 703-505-3064.
Click
TVPredictions.com to read
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