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Can Rotten Tomatoes still be trusted now that Comcast owns it?

    by Bob Fernandez
    Published 

Now that Comcast Corp. owns Rotten Tomatoes, can its reviews be trusted for Comcast-owned films produced and distributed by Universal Pictures?

Paul Yanover, head of the Comcast-owned Fandango online movie-ticket buying service, says that the answer is yes. Rotten Tomatoes and its critic-rating "Tomatometer" tool will retain editorial independence from the profit-rich Universal Pictures.

Comcast acquired the Hollywood studio Universal Pictures as part of its deal for NBCUniversal in 2011. The Philadelphia cable giant also owns the online ticket-buying service Fandango.

Fandango recently announced that it had purchased both Rotten Tomatoes and Flixster from Time Warner Inc. Terms were not disclosed.

Yanover noted that Rotten Tomatoes maintained its editorial independence under Time Warner, which also owns the Warner Bros. Entertainment Hollywood studio.

With the deal, Comcast will control almost everything about the first-run movie experience except ownership of the movie theater itself. Flixter is an online site that lists times and places where movies are showing. Rotten Tomatoes reviews movies. Fandango sells movie tickets online. Universal Pictures produces and distributes movies.

"Flixster and Rotten Tomatoes are invaluable resources for movie fans and we look forward to growing these successful properties, driving more theatrical ticketing and super-serving consumers with all their movie needs," Yanover said in statement announcing the recent Flixster/Rotten Tomatoes deal.