Al Franken Hits Comcast/NBC U on "Trust"

Al Franken was perhaps the hardest hitting lawmaker on the proposed Comcast-NBC Universal merger today --- and he raised doubts about whether the two media giants are to be believed.

“I worked for NBC for many years,” he said in a Senate subcommittee hearing, before Comcast's Brian Roberts and NBC Universal's Jeff Zucker, per the Washington Post. “And what I know from my previous career has given me reason to be concerned—let me rephrase that, very concerned—about the potential merger of Comcast and NBC Universal.”

His big concern: that Comcast would show favoritism toward NBC content.

He added, “Let me start with something pretty basic: it matters who runs our media companies. The media are our source of entertainment, but they’re also the way we get our information about the world. So when the same company produces the programs and runs the pipes that bring us those programs, we have a reason to be nervous.”

Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" writer and creator of the short-lived NBC sitcom "LateLine," cited the relaxation of "fin-syn" rules, which essentially prevented networks from owning the shows they aired in primetime. The removal of "fin syn" has long been a rallying cry for writers and creators in the face of media consolidation, as networks in the 1990s began to demand an ownership stake in series as a condition for getting a show on the air. It's what the Writers Guild of America points to in pushing for net neutrality regulations, which would require Internet providers to treat all content equally.

"This is completely contrary to what NBC and the other networks said they would do when they were trying to get Fin-Syn rescinded," Franken said.

He also said that he feared the merger "could set off another round of media consolidation."

Video is here.