The ink was hardly dry on the Comcast/NBCU deal Saturday
when critics filed a letter
with the FCC promising to keep a close eye on the new company and asking
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to do the same.
They echoed the same concerns they expressed in numerous filings over the
course of the past year.
"The Comcast-NBC merger is the new face of media
consolidation," they wrote. "As organizations representing hundreds
of thousands of diverse, local citizens around the country, we are pledging
today to be vigorous watchdogs, monitoring this newly merged media giant, and
consistent advocates for the public interest. We ask you to make the same
pledge."
Groups signing on to the letter included Free Press. Media
Access Project, Common Cause and the Writers Guild of American East.
Comcast has made its own pledge to keep an eye on the new
company, volunteering to name an ombudsman to oversee compliance with FCC
conditions and its own pledges and side deals with independent producers and
minority groups.
