The New York Times
“Good morning. We’ve been sold,” Meredith Vieira said Thursday morning, starting NBC’s “Today” show. “General Electric has signed an agreement this morning to sell control of NBC Universal, our parent company, to Comcast, creating one of the biggest media companies in history.”
Welcome to the news business, Comcast.
With the sale of NBC Universal, the nation’s biggest cable operator gains a network news division, two cable news channels, and a set of local stations with long histories covering their communities. With the news assets comes a public service responsibility, one that Comcast said it recognized and respected.
“NBC News is a national treasure whose independence we all value and we will always respect,” David L. Cohen, a Comcast executive vice president, said in a letter outlining the companys public interest commitments.
NBC’s morning show, “Today,” and evening newscast, “NBC Nightly News,” are among the nation’s oldest and most-watched news programs. More…