Now that it’s been reported the Comcast-TimeWarner merger talks have collapsed, there will be much ad time to be filled on television and radio (as well as print). At least if you live in the D.C. area, radio commercials are often about impending legislation and a voiceover urging listeners to “vote no” or “vote yes.” The ads are usually paid for by lobbying groups and aimed at lawmakers.
On the radio, the Comcast-TimeWarner campaign ran a series of ads featuring two men having a friendly conversation. One guy asks his friend what he thinks of the possible merger. The other guy is not so well-informed. He thinks it sounds like an awfully big company and isn’t sure if that’s a good thing. At which point the other man lays out the case for the $45-billion merger (the companies actually preferred the term “transaction”). He talks about better bandwidth, better choices, freedom, and Internet access to disadvantaged children. It’s never revealed where the pro-merger fellow works, but I assume it’s at Comcast.
