A union representing online, film and television writers Wednesday called on federal regulators if they approve the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal to require the combine company to donate at least $10 million a year for a decade to support public affairs programming on television and online.
In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the Writers Guild of America East said it hopes the commission and the Justice Department will block the proposed merger. But if regulators approve the deal, the combined company should "contribute significant resources to the production of truly independent content," the guild said.
It suggests the funding be allocated in the same way that public television funding is provided through a nonprofit corporation similar to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
"Although we are also deeply concerned that the merger will limit the ability of independent producers of entertainment programming to reach their audiences, the effect will be particularly profound in the area of news and public affairs programming," the guild wrote.
The group and other critics say the combined company, which will merge the nation's biggest cable provider with a major broadcast network, movie studio and several cable channels, will have "enormous power over what people watch and a clear economic incentive" to direct viewers to the content it produces.
In response, Comcast noted in a statement that it has been a long-time supporter and funder of the public affairs cable network C-SPAN and has received support for its merger from other entertainment industry groups such as the Independent Film and Television Alliance and the Directors Guild.
"We've committed that the NBC-owned and operated broadcast stations will produce [an] additional 1,000 hours per year of local news and information programming for distribution on traditional and new media," Comcast Vice President of Government Communications Sena Fitzmaurice said in a statement. "While this is a thoughtful proposal, it ignores the fact that, taken as a whole, the range of public interest commitments already made by the combined companies promises to deliver more diverse programming and more independently produced programming than any entity has ever committed to before."
I think it is really important to have a public affair program to support it, and public affair program always have politic support, and that is a very good way.
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