Comcast moves KO to the nether world [View All]

from blueoregon: http://www.blueoregon.com/2007/11/msnbc-100-comca.html

<snip>
So, last Tuesday, mere hours before the presidential debate, MSNBC disappeared from basic cable on the Comcast system in Portland. I waited on hold, forever, to find out what happened - and then posted a rant here at BlueOregon. After all, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann is just about the only progressive voice on cable news.

For example, check out Olbermann's "Special Comment" tonight regarding torture, the Mukasey nomination, and George W. Bush. It's powerful stuff.

As I wrote last week:

Please, oh please, tell me that this isn't Comcast turning out the lights on the only cable news channel that even bothers to air one progressive voice. If it really is MSNBC's call, that sucks, but OK. But not if it's Comcast's decision.

And now we know. Over the weekend, I got an official statement from NBC's corporate headquarters. An MSNBC spokesperson (who asked to be otherwise anonymous) wrote me this:

The decision to move MSNBC from its existing channel in Portland, Oregon was 100% Comcast's decision. MSNBC reaches more than 91 million U.S. homes and leads the industry in political news coverage. We believe it should be offered in every basic cable package.

This is outrageous. The cable news lineup in Portland is now: CNN, CNN Headline, CNBC, Weather Channel, FOX News, NW Cable News. Seriously. Weather.


see also:
http://www.oregonlive.com/living/oregonian/peter_carlin/index.ssf?/base/living/1194051346154430.xml&coll=7