White page. Nice.

Good news for them of course!

ComCrap and TicketBastard together?

Anybody got extra lube?

I, for one, we;come out new MasterCast Nation overlords.

Why does this trend of orgiastic mergers and alliances
give me the sensation of watching a Hutt business convention?

/Jabba would be proud...

Ticketmaster is the reason I stopped going to shows at large venues. I made an exception for Bauhaus back in the 90s because it was farking Bauhaus but Ticketmaster adds nothing but suck to the music industry.

I rarely go to shows anymore unless I score free tickets...a $30 cover price ends up running closer to $60-70 after "convenience" fees and crap are thrown in.

"convenient"? for who? Even if you buy the tickets online and print them at home they charge you the fee...if you pick them up in person, they charge you the fee. If you have them mailed, they charge you separate shipping for each ticket (usually $5-6 per ticket), and then they ship them in the SAME ENVELOPE with a 41 cent stamp on it. WTF???

Are they trying to form the Voltron of Fail?

...combine them with the unholy apple/at&t union and you can have a real axis of evil.

Here in NJ, the ONLY time ticketbastard was "investigated" by a state senator was when some of his "connected" friends got butthurt when they didn't get Springsteen tickets.

Ticketbastard AND comcrap need to be seriously investigated for anti trust.

F ticketbastard and F comcrap(tastic).

The sixth seal has been broken.

Comcast is facing stiff competition here in Chicago. They actually changed their business model to be more like RCN, where there are sales reps rather than requiring people to call the centralized resource. My main issue with them is and will be customer service. Having to be on hold for 45 minutes to 2 hours before speaking to anyone is just unnacceptable.

Wow. That's some heavy-duty evil right there.

/"Thank you for calling Ticketmaster. Your name is Toby, how can I help you today?"

Shrugging Atlas: Are they trying to form the Voltron of Fail?

THIS.

Would this mean that Comcast would broadcast live concerts and shows via pay-per-view? If the price was reasonable, I'd go for it, even if the companies are evil incarnate.

I don't think Comcast is evil, just very mediocre.

Ticketmaster, however, is the devil incarnate.

ihatedumbpeople: I rarely go to shows anymore unless I score free tickets...a $30 cover price ends up running closer to $60-70 after "convenience" fees and crap are thrown in.

"convenient"? for who? Even if you buy the tickets online and print them at home they charge you the fee...if you pick them up in person, they charge you the fee. If you have them mailed, they charge you separate shipping for each ticket (usually $5-6 per ticket), and then they ship them in the SAME ENVELOPE with a 41 cent stamp on it. WTF???

All of these, plus some concerts have a "parking fee" on each ticket! Carpool with 4 other people? That's 5 parking fees for one vehicle. Take public transportation to the venue? Oh you know that's a parking fee.

So now customers can be charged convenience fees for Comcast's unbelievably mediocre service and exceptioanlly poor customer service?

Perhaps Ticketmaster-purchased tickets will receive the Comcast treatment? Limited to buying a ticket for only 1/2 the show? Perhaps only 1 out of three tickets purchased will actually be admitted?

This is like the Joker and Riddler joining forces, or, like the Legion of Doom. Now all they need is Time-Warner and the RIAA to conspire with them and S.P.E.C.T.R.E. will be fully functional.

Bonanza Jellybean: I, for one, wellcome out new MasterCast

Caster Master.

/who run barter town?

jack21221: ihatedumbpeople: I rarely go to shows anymore unless I score free tickets...a $30 cover price ends up running closer to $60-70 after "convenience" fees and crap are thrown in.

"convenient"? for who? Even if you buy the tickets online and print them at home they charge you the fee...if you pick them up in person, they charge you the fee. If you have them mailed, they charge you separate shipping for each ticket (usually $5-6 per ticket), and then they ship them in the SAME ENVELOPE with a 41 cent stamp on it. WTF???

All of these, plus some concerts have a "parking fee" on each ticket! Carpool with 4 other people? That's 5 parking fees for one vehicle. Take public transportation to the venue? Oh you know that's a parking fee.

OK, I hate Ticketbastard as much as the next person, but let's stay on the rails here.

I've gotten around their fees by purchasing from the venue box office.


Here's a quick example:

I just looked up a ticket for the Eddie Izzard ahow on 2/12/10 at the TD Garden in Boston.

Ticket = $45.00
Facility Charge = $2.50
Convenience Charge = $11.05
Ticketfast = $2.50
(Or standard shipping via USPS...which is FREE.)

for a grand total of $60(or $58.55 if I have the tickets mailed) for a $45 ticket.

NOW...

If I go to the TD Garden Box Office:

Ticket = $45.00
Facility Fee = $2.50

Grand Total -$47.50.

See how that works? Some truth to ward off the trolls and exaggerators.

For some reason, I was thinking Paul Allen owned both Comcast and Ticketmaster... He actually owns Charter, not sure on Ticketmaster.

Only six corporations remain.

Yea, I havent gone to a concert or show in a long time,
it's just to expensive to take myself and my entire family.

Same with baseball and football, Guess it's my fault for not
making enough money...

Is this before or after Comcast buys half of NBC?

Comcast is not entirely useless.

I on many occasions have chosen NOT to go to a concert or sporting event because I didn't want to pay what Ticketmaster wants. This is not a good thing for those industries, but there eventually will be an antitrust action, and that will be the end of it.

Great, just what the world needs. This is like Electronic Arts partnering with Chrysler.

bronyaur1: I on many occasions have chosen NOT to go to a concert or sporting event because I didn't want to pay what Ticketmaster wants. This is not a good thing for those industries, but there eventually will be an antitrust action


No, there won't be.

The new partnership will be titled cocmaster.

Eff.

This deal makes NO sense. Comcast already has ownership in a ticketing agency (www.comcasttix.com) via a deal between its Comcast-Spectacor subsidiary and New Era Tickets.

I guess the "if you can't beat em, join em" rule is in play here.

Goodfella: Great, just what the world needs. This is like Electronic Arts partnering with Chrysler.

You are understimating the reach of Comcast. They own/run multiple arenas around the country as well as the Flyers and Sixers here in Philly. As a company, they sell a LOT of tickets for things completely unrelated to their cable offerings.

Mergers like this reaffirm my choice to only "borrow" cable/internet from my neighbors, and only go see my favorite bands when they're playing locally and not through Ticketmaster.

Who really wants to see their idol play from 200 yards back and 2 levels up among a throng of 1000's of other people? I prefer large bars where the odds are in my favor that I could easily heckle my band and/or swipe their beers.

On another topic:

Erveek

/"Thank you for calling Ticketmaster. Your name is Toby, how can I help you today?"

+1

Way to keep it subtle and clever.

I agree that TicketMaster sucks, but you can almost always get out of the fees if you read the fine print.

Here in SF you generally just go to the box office on Sunday afternoons and there's no fee whatsoever.

All this while they're laying people off left and right....