MGM VPN Holdings

The industry may become more consolidated if the Comcast-NBC Universal merger is approved. Today, for example, Comcast owns E! Entertainment Television, Versus, The Golf Channel, regional sports networks, G4, and invests in The Style Network, TV One, PBS Kids Sprout,23Current, Driver TV, MGM VPN Holdings, NHL Network, Music Choice, Pittsburgh Cable News Channel LLC, and the MLB (Major League Baseball) Network. If the Comcast-NBC merger is approved, then Comcast would also own MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, USA Network, Sci-Fi, the NBC network (which affiliates with hundreds of broadcast stations), Telemundo and a minority share in broadcaster ION media, as well as more than 20 local NBC-owned-and-operated broadcast stations and a major interest in the online video service Hulu. Comcast also has disclosed its equity interests in several smaller cable programmers.24In a common practice that further increases vertical integration, cable TV distributors require small programmers to give up much of their companies' equity stock to cable TV distributors just to get carried.25 As one programmer's CEO explained, "Cable and satellite TV companies want to own you before they put you on television."26 If true, this is illegal under communications laws.27Programmers have argued that distributors collectively blackball any programmer who files a