Is that it will give many more people access to everyone’s favorite local news channel, NY1. According to Capital New York, the terms of Comcast’s 2011 buyout of NBCUniversal dictate that it must make any cable channels it owns available to the other providers at a fair rate. Because Time Warner owns NY1, and Comcast will own Time Warner, the network would fall under this rule, meaning Verizon Fios, RCN, and satellite cable subscribers can finally watch Pat Kiernan, Roger Clark, and the rest of the gang (currently, NY1 is available only via Time Warner and Optimum).
Senator Chuck Shumer also gave a statement this week assuring New Yorkers that they needn’t worry about NY1’s well-being in the face of the acquisition. “When I spoke to Comcast this morning, they said 3 things: While there are no hard commitments, they expect to increase Time Warner’s cable operation here – just as they did when they acquired NBC – so I expect to see jobs grow; they confirmed they are going to keep NY1; and they confirmed they will honor Time Warner Cable’s commitment to growing jobs in Buffalo,” he wrote. “It seems that local jobs, as well as Pat’s ‘In the Papers’ segment, are not in danger.”
Hopefully this means NY1 gets to drop its dumb new name.
