BUSINESS: Comcast Makes Disney Takeover Bid

In a bid to take over the world, Comcast has proposed a $66 billion dollar takeover of Disney. The evil genius with the cat on his lap has declined comment.

Michael Powell, FCC Chairman, was too busy watching footage of Janet Jackson's boobies to comment.

Comcast Eyes Disney Takeover Bid
All sarcasm aside, the possible Disney-Comcast deal will be much more important than Janet's bustline. What does the FCC plan to do about it? Probably nothing. Michael Powell favors deregulation of media conglomerates, and it's likely he will do nothing to block this deal. (Ever wonder how Clear Channel came to own every radio station in your city? Thank Powell's FCC for removing the limits on the number of stations one company can own in any one market.)

Disney owns ABC in addition to the vast Disney-branded empire, and Comcast is one of the largest cable companies in the United States. That means media content will be distributed through the same company that produced it. That's not a good thing. The vast majority of mass media is controlled by around 5 companies, and if this deal goes through, it'll be even smaller.

The wild card in this situation is Michael Eisner, Disney's CEO. There's no way he's giving up power over Disney without a fight. He's not really in it for the money, so Comcast will either have to live with Eisner in the Disney driver's seat or possibly forgo the deal.



[Edited on 11-2-2004 by SkepticOverlord]