Thank you, the top comment and all its follow-up seem to think it's a good thing and may lower cost. It's hard for me to imagine this being anything less than a way to make more money with the combined companies.
Of course it's a way to make more money. They wouldn't move forward with this deal if it wasn't. But this doesn't preclude the possibility that end result will be a more efficient, vertically integrated healthcare provider.
It's terrible! The best doctors I've ever had were private practices where they had their own office. Every time I've dealt with anything remotely corporate it was a nightmare.
Can you identify any tangible negative effects on consumers which arose due to the purchase of NBC by Comcast?
No. But the potential is there. They were better off separate as they operated as different entities but together their incentives are overlapped and the potential to exert undue power over the market is that much easier. Separate Comcast and NBC had no incentive to go into any exclusive agreements. Disney buying Marvel is a similar case. They are pulling content licensed for viewing on Netflix into their own service. Not illegal but not a win for consumers in an already crowded steaming market. And unfair to Netflix in that sense.