After being announced nearly two years ago, the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department today finally approved the union of cable TV provider Comcast with NBC Universal. The deal is expected to be finalized by the end of the month.

As the New York Times points out, the deal marks the first time a cable company has had control over a major broadcast network. Not surprisingly, it has sparked concern since it was first announced in March 2009, as such a large media powerhouse could end up strong-arming its providers and partners. Comcast could for example give web speed preference to NBC shows, or prevent other carriers from streaming NBC content altogether.

But just as we reported it would last month, the FCC has made sure to include conditions for Comcast-NBCU to follow. In a statement released today, the FCC writes: “Comcast-NBCU will be required to take affirmative steps to foster competition in the video marketplace.  In addition, Comcast-NBCU will increase local news coverage to viewers; expand children’s programming; enhance the diversity of programming available to Spanish-speaking viewers; offer broadband services to low-income Americans at reduced monthly prices; and provide high-speed broadband to schools, libraries and under served communities, among other public benefits.”

The deal was approved by a 4 to 1 vote. Senior Democratic commissioner Michael J. Copps, who cast the dissenting vote, said in a statement that the deal “confers too much power in one company’s hands.” FCC chair Julius Genachowski responded with his own statement that reiterated why he believes the agency’s conditions on the deal will ultimately drive innovation in online video.

Indeed, Comcast will become an even bigger player in online video through the deal. Comcast will gain a minority stake in the popular video site Hulu, and it will also be able to control the availability of NBC content on Netflix’s streaming video library.

Tags: broadcast, cable, mergers, TV

Companies: Comcast, Comcast-NBCU, NBC Universal

People: Julius Genachowski, Michael J. Copps

Article courtesy of VentureBeat » deals

The team at Wunderlich Securities today came up with some “outlook” themes to consider in tech in 2011:
Cable and telecom analyst Matthew Harrigan writes that the FCC’s pronouncement on net neutrality, which he deems “nebulous,” removes the “monster under the bed” for cable in 2011, along with the Republican sweep [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

Google announced yesterday that it’s purchased Widevine, a video digital rights management company mostly known as the technology behind Netflix’s video protection. Widevine gives video sites the tools to license, encrypt, and distribute videos to a variety of device platforms.

So why does Google suddenly need a credible DRM solution? It’s all about gaining the trust of the networks. Bear with me, and I’ll explain.

People have been saying for years that hordes of consumers would soon unplug their cable boxes and rely exclusively on streaming video. In the last few weeks we’ve seen signs that might actually happen. Cable subscriber numbers have dropped two quarters in a row, accentuating that last quarter’s first-ever drop in subscriber numbers was no fluke. And organizations like HBO have made the leap to online streaming and may soon charge direct subscription fees that skip cable providers once the price is right, thereby maintaining their growth in response to cable’s TV’s demise.

As Hulu and Netflix have figured out, people are more than willing to pay an $8 monthly fee for access to good television content, and they’re even happier to not pay their cable companies $60-$100 per month. The networks were only getting $1 of that cable bill per subscriber, so they are now increasingly happy to cut the cable companies out and put more per subscriber in their pockets. From this context, it’s no surprise that Comcast is buying NBC in order to secure its valuable television and cable television programming like Bravo and USA Network.

In the midst of this accelerating transition to streaming television, Google has been struggling to promote its streaming products such as YouTube and Android/GoogleTV as preferred viewing platforms. There has not been much uptake after striking deals to stream content like older CBS shows on YouTube, and the networks quickly blocked GoogleTV from running their content soon after its launch.

Owning Widevine’s technology will enable Google to negotiate content deals from a position of trust, rather than as the owner of YouTube. It can tell networks, “Hey, it’s the same technology that Netflix is using, and you signed a deal with them!”

A “YouTube Plus” akin to Hulu Plus, with trusted DRM that offers network television and movies under a well-known brand will finally give Google a counterweight to the iPhone/AppleTV and iTunes hegemony. People say that YouTube isn’t a place for premium content, but the YouTube music-video spinoff Vevo, which has emerged as the “Hulu of music,” has proved them wrong.

Peter Yared is the vice president and general manager of Webtrend Apps, a platform used to engage customers on Facebook, iPhone and Android. He came to Webtrends via the acquisition of Transpond, a social and mobile marketing company he founded in 2007.

Tags: GoogleTV, TV

Companies: Google, Hulu, Netflix, Widevine, YouTube

People: Peter Yared

Article courtesy of VentureBeat » deals

Cablevision (CVC), which only recently completed the spin-off of its Madison Square Garden (MSG) unit, this morning announced that its board is now considering a potential leveraged spin of its Rainbow Media Holdings business to holders in a tax-free distribution.
The Rainbow unit includes the cable networks AMC, We TV, IFC, [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

There’s been plenty of debate in recent months about the potential threat posed to the networks and the cable and satellite TV providers from growing access to mainstream video content on tablets and other devices over the Internet. But one possibility I haven’t seen addressed before is that the movement [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

CommScope (CTV) this morning said it is talks with Carlyle Group on going private at $31.50 a share. The company said no agreement has been reached and that there can be no assurance that a transaction will occur. Allen & Co. is serving as financial advisor to the cable TV [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

The debut today of the new-and-improved Apple (AAPL) TV set-top box creates a potentially formidable new problem for the cable and telco video on demand services, Light Reading points out this afternoon. The new box – one-quarter the footprint of the old box, and sharply reduced in price, to $99 [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

Intel (INTC) this morning said it has agreed to acquire the Texas Instruments (TXN) cable modem product line. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Intel said the deal “enhances” its focus on the cable industry and related consumer electronics market segments.
Intel said all of the employees of the unit [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

What’s this joyous news you hear?
Maria Bartiromo is being inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame Class of 2011! The CNBC anchor will be officially welcomed to the club in June of next year, and if you can’t make it to the ceremony for the acceptance speech, take heart– you’ll be able to visit her in the Hall of Fame’s Denver headquarters– fingers crossed for a wax statue. [ICN via BI]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Netflix (NFLX) shares are trading higher after the company announced a streaming content deal with the cable TV network Epix, which gives the company access to movies from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM.
Epix has the subscription pay TV rights to new releases and library titles of its partners, and will make [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily