Comcast hands out 'priority assistance' cards to Washington power players
NBC's parent company takes a very hands-on approach
By Micah Singleton
TheVerge.com
December 22, 2014 02:15 pm
http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/22/7434841/comcast-priority-assistance-cards-washington-elite
The controversial Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger hinges on regulatory
approval from the FCC and the Department of Justice, both of which are
based in Washington, DC. It will come as no surprise that Comcast is
trying to ingratiate itself to the DC elite by passing out cards with
"priority assistance" codes to select staffers, journalists, and other
influential citizens of the nation's capital, which can help expedite
service for the select few who posses the cards.
In an excellent report by Luke Mullins of the Washingtonian detailing
how former Meet The Press moderator David Gregory lost his job, Mullins
notes how Comcast is a much more hands-on corporate parent for NBC than
GE ever was. Comcast executives show up to Washington events — something
that GE executives rarely did — including the White House
Correspondents' Dinner, where Comcast execs "mingled with lawmakers,
Capitol Hill aides, and media muckety-mucks."
Comcast also had an even more personal way of sucking up to Washington.
Its government-affairs team carried around "We’ll make it right" cards
stamped with "priority assistance" codes for fast-tracking help and
handed them out to congressional staffers, journalists, and other
influential Washingtonians who complained about their service.
A Comcast spokeswoman says this practice isn’t exclusive to DC; every
Comcast employee receives the cards, which they can distribute to any
customer with cable or internet trouble. Nevertheless, efforts like this
one have surely helped Comcast boost its standing inside the Beltway and
improve its chances of winning regulatory approval for its next big
conquest: merging with the second-largest cable provider in the country,
Time Warner Cable.
As The Verge reported back in August, Comcast has been passing out these
cards for years, and the company is using them to target Washington
power players, perhaps in the hopes that it will shift negative opinions
of the company and its $45 billion merger with Time Warner Cable that
will create an even larger conglomerate which will supply internet
access to more than a third of US broadband subscribers.
Mullins goes on to state that Comcast exercising its control over Meet
The Press may be for more than just higher ratings, pointing toward
approval for the Time Warner Cable merger:
All Comcast needs, once again, is Washington’s blessing. Which is
why Meet the Press, the company’s marquee Beltway property, is not just
another show.
The FCC's review of the merger is currently scheduled to wrap up in
early 2015.
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