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(from BaltimoreSun.com) - While consumer groups are criticizing the proposed deal between Comcast and General Electric that will make Comcast the new owner of NBC Universal, perhaps the biggest losers are not consumers as much as NBC affiliate stations like WBAL in Baltimore. Such local stations aligned to NBC can expect more network moves like the one that brought Jay Leno to prime-time this fall on NBC and blew up the ratings for their home-based 11 p.m. newscasts. In the traditional way of doing network business of the last 60 years, the Leno move was and is a disaster — just as many critics like me have written, and affiliate managers are now starting to admit when they can no longer hide the ratings and revenue losses their late local newscasts are suffering with the ratings-challenged Leno lead-in. It was a disaster, because the network-affiliate relationship was the core of the TV business model, and even though companies like Hearst, Sinclair and Scripps owned the local stations and made the money off their local newscasts, the network had to treat them right and look out for their interests because they were in business together in every sense of that term. No more. Station group owners that own NBC affiliates are on their own now. And in the new cable-think of companies like the proposed Comcast-NBC Universal, moving Leno to prime time was a sound move….Cont….

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(from TVNewsCheck.com/Philly.com) - Comcast Corp. announced this morning it plans to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal for $13.75 billion, giving the nation’s largest cable TV operator control of the Peacock network, an array of cable channels and a major movie studio. Although the deal could mean that movies could reach cable more quickly after showing in theaters, and that TV shows could appear faster on cell phones and other devices, it was already raising concerns that Comcast would wield too much power over entertainment. Indeed, if the deal clears regulatory and other hurdles, Comcast would rival the heft of The Walt Disney Co. – which Comcast CEO Brian Roberts already tried to buy. Comcast, which already serves a quarter of all U.S. households that pay for TV, would gain control of the NBC broadcast network, the Spanish-language Telemundo and about two dozen cable channels, including USA, Syfy and The Weather Channel. It also would get regional sports networks, Universal Pictures and theme parks…Cont…

And here’s more on the purchase…        Comcast says it’s committed to broadcast               Many possbilities for NBC and Comcast              NBC Universal sale by the numbers

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