Comcast, You're in the News Business Now

Welcome to the news business, Comcast. With the sale of NBC Universal, the nation's biggest cable operator gains a network news division, two cable news channels, and a set of local stations with long histories covering their communities. With the news assets comes a public service responsibility, one that Comcast said it recognized and respected. NBC's morning show, "Today," and evening newscast, "NBC Nightly News," are among the nation's oldest and most-watched news programs. Until now, Comcast has been an expert at wiring homes for cable, but not in gathering or reporting the news. Its entertainment and sports networks do produce newscasts, though. For the 23 years that General Electric has owned NBC, it has pledged not to influence the network's news programming. Comcast said it would "continue those policies" and "extend these policies to the potential influence of each of the owners."