I know, Wall Street is all about the bottom line, that's the nature of the business. But, that's where the regulators come in; they should be on the side of doing what's best for the public as a whole, not for what's best for these big corporations. That's not going to happen under this Administration, unfortunately, or with a Republican controlled Congress.

Good lead editorial on this merger in today's New York Times. Here's a taste:

<Neither the F.C.C. nor the Congress — which currently seem more consumed by Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" than by serious matters of public policy — has shown much appetite for creating new rules to address such dangers in an altered media landscape. The cable industry, the most powerful programming gatekeeper these days, does not face many of the same types of constraints once faced by broadcasters.

Federal regulators could block the Comcast-Disney deal in the absence of any new rules by vaguely declaring it against the "public interest," but the public should be able to rely on a more explicit legal protection of media diversity. Comcast's proposed takeover of Disney, which would take the combined control of content and distribution into unchartered waters, should prompt a thorough debate on the proper limits for media consolidation. >