The proposed acquisition of the Walt Disney Company by the Comcast Holding Company would create a massive consolidation of distribution and content power. Comcast, already the country's largest cable distributor (having recently completed their takeover of AT&T Broadband), would now control interests as diverse as ABC and Miramax, as well as the slumping, but still important, Disney Studios. In light of the proposed merger of BMG and Sony, consumers should be very concerned that the number of conglomerates that control the media industry is being further concentrated into an all-powerful handful of holding corporations.
The new ownership structure would look like this:
- Comcast Holdings Corporation
- Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.
- E! Entertainment Television, Inc.
- Comcast Spectacor, L.P.
- Global Spectrum LP
- Front Row Marketing Services, LP
- Patron Solutions, LP
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Club
- Outdoor Life Network
- The Walt Disney Company
- ABC, Inc.
- ABC Cable Networks Group
- A&E Television Networks
- ESPN, Inc.
- SportsTicker Enterprises, L.P.
- Lifetime Entertainment Services
- ABC Radio Networks, Inc.
- Hyperion
- Disney Publishing Worldwide
- Euro Disney S.C.A.
- Mammoth Records
- Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
- Walt Disney Internet Group
- Walt Disney Parks & Resorts
- Walt Disney Studio Entertainment
- Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc.
- Buena Vista Motion Picture Group
- Miramax Film Corp.