After recently moving, I had to switch my internet/cable/telephone provider to Xfinity (Comcast) because my old company didn’t service my new area. Now, if you do a quick google search on the companies with the worst customer service, Comcast consistently ranks at the tops of those lists. Much to my dismay, my choices were very limited (like so limited Comcast was the only provider) and I was forced to go with a company I didn’t want to support because internet and television are major necessities in my household.

They did happen to include Netflix access directly on their cable box and gave me a voice-operated remote control, so I’ll let the terrible customer service slide for the time being.

If you didn’t know, Comcast is probably the king of global telecommunications conglomerates. The amount of assets they own is seems to be never ending.

To name just a few:

• NBC Universal (which is huge in itself)
• Universal Parks & Resorts
• DreamWorks Animation
• Comcast Cable Communications (Xfinity)
• Philadelphia Flyers

They recently came out with a mobile phone plan that I’m considering purchasing, just because it’s cheaper and more convenient to have all my bills under one roof. That’s one of the clear advantages of media convergence – convenience.

With Comcast, I can stream This Is Us (favorite NBC show) on my iPad through the Comcast cable app using Comcast’s wifi and then call my best friend using my Comcast powered wireless phone to recap the episode and talk about how many times I cried.

Comcast really epitomizes both roles of media convergence – they have made media channels like television and telephone available on a singular platform like an iPad, and they participate in a cross platform business model by consolidating so many media holdings under one name.