It’s a big year for the FCC. It’s got two huge mergers to review — Comcast/Time Warner Cable, AT&T/DirecTV — while also trying to reinstate the recently gutted net neutrality laws without ticking off the entire Internet. These related issues put the FCC in a position to force some cable operators to accept stricter net neutrality, but that’s really just kicking the can down the road. [More]
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Comcast Spending Big On Legion Of Lobbyists To Try To Win Approval For TWC Merger
By 5.23.14
Mergers are an expensive business. Not only is Comcast spending $45 billion just to buy Time Warner Cable, but also there are the costs of getting the deal approved. Trying to convince regulators and lawmakers that this arrangement is not only not harmful, but potentially beneficial, is a hefty undertaking. That means a legion of lobbyists. [More]
Latest Data Says TWC-Comcast Merger Bringing Broadband Caps To Nearly 80% Of Users
By 5.21.14
The future just keeps looking brighter for those who make money from data caps, and more limited for everyone else. The latest data out on home broadband caps now shows that if the Comcast and TWC merger goes through, 79% of internet subscribers — four in every five Americans with a broadband connection — will face a monthly data cap on their plans. [More]
Americans Dissatisfied With Their Cable Companies, Especially Comcast And Time Warner
By 5.20.14
In news that will not surprise Consumerist readers, a massive annual survey of American consumers shows that we are all generally dissatisfied with our cable and Internet service providers, and that we find Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Charter, and Cox just a little bit less satisfying than average. [More]
Groups Protest Time Warner Cable Merger Outside Comcast Meeting
By 5.20.14
On Thursday, Comcast’s investors will be meeting here in Philadelphia, but they’ll be doing so over the din of protestors from numerous local and national organizations who are coming out to oppose the cable company’s planned merger with Time Warner Cable. [More]
Here’s Why the Justice Dept. Should Block the Comcast and Time Warner Cable Merger
By 5.18.14
Comcast and Time Warner Cable have done their parade in front of the House and Senate to state their case publicly for why they should be allowed to merger into a truly massive mega-company. But now, it’s time for the investigation that really matters, as regulators at the FCC and the Department of Justice start looking into whether or not this deal is good for the public interest… or violates antitrust law. [More]
Comcast VP Predicts Company Will Implement Broadband Data Caps Within Five Years
By 5.15.14
Most of us like to dictate when and how often we use the internet, but one media company is now considering placing limitations on that use. Any guesses on just who that company is? Sure, that was an easy one: Comcast. [More]
Comcast Brags About Net Neutrality Commitment, Fails To Mention Legal Obligation To Neutrality
By 5.13.14
Dear Comcast: Please stop bragging about how your company is dedicated to net neutrality. You’re not. As a condition of your merger with NBC, you are legally obligated to follow the recently gutted net neutrality guidelines through 2018. This is like a prisoner saying she’s a supporter of wearing orange uniforms, or someone sentenced to community service saying he really believes in keeping our highways clean. Yet this hasn’t stopped Comcast from taking out ads trying to turn this obligation into a positive. [More]
What A Difference A Payoff Makes: Comcast Customers Now Seeing Decent Netflix Speeds
By 5.12.14
Nearly three months ago, Comcast and Netflix revealed that after months of rapidly degrading data speeds for Netflix subscribers on Comcast’s network, the streaming video company and the country’s largest ISP had reached a deal where Netflix would pay for more direct access to the Comcast network. In the short time since, Comcast has jumped from the rear of the pack to near the front. [More]
Why Starting A Competitor To Comcast Is Basically Impossible
By 5.10.14
The mega-rich can dabble in pretty much any business they want to. Warren Buffet owns everything from furniture stores to ice cream chains. Richard Branson started a commercial spaceflight company, for crying out loud. And yet with demand for high-speed, affordable internet access going only up, up, and up, no new business or venture capitalist seems to be stepping into the fray to provide it. People passionately hate their current cable companies — so what’s stopping an enterprising entrepreneur from making a giant wad of cash entering the telecom game? [More]
Comcast Signs $7.75B Deal To Broadcast Olympics Through 2032
By 5.7.14
Bob Costas fans rejoice! The International Olympic Committee has only chosen venues for its summer games through 2020, but that hasn’t stopped the IOC from quietly striking a nearly $8 billion deal with Comcast to grant NBC exclusive U.S. rights to Olympics broadcasts through 2032, meaning children conceived in the afterglow of Team Canada’s dual Curling wins at Sochi will be adults before they even have the chance to see the games broadcast on another network. [More]
Watch Antenna Company Deliver A Worst Company Congrats Cake To Comcast HQ
By 5.7.14
In a congratulatory gesture to celebrate Comcast’s Worst Company In America win, an antenna company took it upon itself to deliver a cake to the victor’s Philadelphia headquarters. One, because cake is delicious (clearly) and also to thank the cable company for sending it cord-cutting customers who have a sudden need to buy an antenna. [More]
Is Comcast Considering $6/Month Fee For Out-Of-Home WiFi Access?
By 5.2.14
Comcast recently began a large-scale expansion of its out-of-home WiFi network to give subscribers Internet access via hotspots when they are away from their home network. Right now, the cost for accessing these hotspots is included in a user’s monthly subscription, but does market research recently done in the name of Comcast foretell a fee to come? [More]
Media Companies’ Silence On Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger Speaks Volumes
By 5.2.14
While numerous advocacy and public interest groups have publicly come out to declare their opposition to the merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, those companies whose business will most directly be affected by the tie-up — broadcasters, streaming services, production studios, advertisers — have remained relatively silent. But it’s not because they don’t have an opinion on the matter. [More]
Internal Comcast Memo Says Consumerist Is All About “Headlines,” So Here’s One For Them
By 4.30.14
Earlier this month, Consumerist readers voted to hand Comcast its second Worst Company In America title, the results undoubtedly tied to the cable company’s ill-advised decision to acquire equally cruddy pay-TV provider Time Warner Cable. But rather than own up to — or even ignore — its WCIA tournament victory, the company chose to send out a memo to thousands of employees name-checking Consumerist and accusing us of being all about making headlines. [More]
Regional Sports Channels Highlight Problem With Comcast/TWC Merger
By 4.29.14
When Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal questioned Comcast and Time Warner Cable execs about how the merger of these companies would impact regional sports programming, the two cable operators shrugged it off as a silly question. But it’s not, and here’s why. [More]
Netflix Will Also Pay Verizon To End Streaming Bottleneck
By 4.29.14
The months-long game of chicken between Netflix and Verizon has come to an end, with the streaming video company agreeing to pay off the ISP for a more direct connection to its network. For Netflix users with FiOS accounts, it means you will finally be able to watch streamed reruns of Mad Men without having to guess which character you’re looking at, but it continues to demonstrate that ISPs can passive-aggressively compel data-heavy content companies to ante up in order to reach their users. [More]
Comcast Deal With Charter Isn’t About Improving Competition; It’s About Carving Up Marketplace
By 4.28.14
Earlier today, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications finally confirmed reports that the three would be playing swap-the-subscribers in an effort to make the unappetizing Comcast/TWC merger slightly less sickening. But while Comcast wants consumers and regulators to believe this sacrificial offering is about keeping the marketplace competitive, it’s really just an easy way for the players to rearrange their customers for better regional monopolies. [More]
