"I tell the truth 'cept when I lie, it only hurts me when I cry."

You can look at the Comcast/GE/NBC Universal deal either as the beginning of the end of media as we know it or as the beginning of the end of democracy as we know it.  It's unlikely to prove to be something in between.  With the completion of Comcast's purchase of GE's controlling stake in NBC Universal, the new content provider/creator will be a juggernaut of advertising and media influence.  Competitors in the content provision market, i.e. the few other cable providers in this country, will be forced to pay Comcast higher rates for NBC's content portfolio, which includes NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Telemundo, Bravo, USA, and nearly two dozen other cable networks.  The end result being that other cable providers will be forced to raise their prices to compensate, or drop NBC's content, either of which will eventually force them out of the market. Worst of all, it essentially gives the largest content provider in the US control over what content we see, as NBC programming is given preferential treatment over other, competing networks. 

But that's the bad news. 

The good news is that there's an even chance this is not an aggressive move by Old Media to save protect its interest.  It's just as likely that Comcast has recognized that at some point down the road it's blood-sucking trifecta of "Cable, Internet, & Phone Service for only $150 a month!"  is going to become a single commodity service, and that their $150/month/household is likely to become $50-75/month/household with their customers buying content directly from it's creators rather than Comcast.  So it's possible that Comcast is reading the writing on the wall and is positioning itself to be the one who sells you "neutral" internet service, but also the one you're ultimately buying content from in the form of NBC's programming.  The net result of this would be that the consumer could purchase both internet service and content at more reasonable prices since the middleman (Comcast's cable packaging) will have been cut out of the deal. 

This deal is going to mean the end of an era, it's just not clear yet who the victor will be.