Not so long ago, Comcast failed in its effort to merge with Time Warner Cable and create a cable/internet giant with around 30 million customers. But now that the regulatory winds have shifted in a decidedly pro-merger direction, some are theorizing what it would take for Comcast to engineer a telecom Voltron nearly double that size. [More]
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Facebook Finally Launching Long-Rumored “Facebook Watch” TV-Like Feature
By 8.10.17
“TV” doesn’t mean what it used to. We’re as likely to watch a premium drama from Netflix or Amazon as from any traditional broadcast or cable channel, and we can watch it on a laptop, phone, or tablet as easily as we can watch it from the big screen in our living rooms. And so it’s unsurprising that Facebook — the all-encompassing worldwide digital platform that once was merely a social network — is finally ready to launch its own programming channel, Facebook Watch. [More]
Sexy European Suitor May Be Looking To Woo Charter Into Another Merger
By 8.10.17
Summertime fling fantasies aren’t just for libidinous teens at camp. European telecom giant Altice, which recently purchased Cablevision and Suddenlink in the U.S., is reportedly gazing across the campfire and into the eyes of another potential American mating partner: Charter. [More]
Charter Decides It’s Not Particularly Interested In Being Acquired By Sprint Right Now
By 7.31.17
You would think that after just having finished a mega-merger with Time Warner Cable last year, Charter might want to take a break before diving into any more major transactions. And yet that hasn’t stopped Sprint from coming ’round knocking at Charter’s door. [More]
Report: Charter Said No To Verizon Buyout Offer Because It Wasn’t Enough Money
By 6.1.17
For months, Verizon’s own leaders have been stoking the rumor mill with comments about just how ready the wireless giant is to acquire someone, anyone they currently compete with. It seems that wasn’t just talk, but that Verizon actually tried to make a play on Charter before being rebuffed earlier this year. [More]
AT&T CEO: Merger With Time Warner Still On Track To Close By End Of Year
By 2.10.17
Mergers are never a sure thing, but the recent political atmosphere has been, let’s say, even less predictable than usual. Even so, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson remains optimistic that his Death Star will be able to acquire Time Warner and all its juicy media properties before the end of the year… and that the FCC won’t be involved in approving the deal. [More]
Facebook’s Out Of Ad Space On Facebook, So It Wants To Put Ads On Your TV
By 11.4.16
First Facebook took over your web experience. Then it took over your phone. And now, more than a decade after the internet’s second-biggest advertising company (Google’s first) launched infamously in a Harvard dorm room, Facebook is all set to start delivering video ads on a whole new platform next week: your TV. [More]
AT&T, Time Warner Stock Prices Fall Slightly Amid Merger Skepticism
By 10.24.16
Before the $85 billion merger of AT&T and Time Warner was official, it was already being decried by people in both presidential campaigns, consumer advocates, lawmakers, and former regulators. Amid this backlash to the news, both companies’ values have taken a bit of a ding today. [More]
Why AT&T Is Buying Time Warner, And Why So Many People Aren’t Happy About It
By 10.24.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
The time from new rumor to signed deal was only about two days, and yet here we are: AT&T is putting the moves on Time Warner, planning to bring the content powerhouse under its roof. This proposal will now, of course, have to grind its way through the gears of government approval. But while this proposal is a giant deal for two giant companies, the name that’s likely to come up more than any other in all the comments back-and-forth is neither Time Warner nor AT&T, but rather a competitor: Comcast. [More]
Reports: Possible AT&T/Time Warner Merger Valued At $85 Billion
By 10.21.16 — Updated: 10.22.16
This morning, the world woke to find out that AT&T and Time Warner were getting cozy and maybe thinking about moving in together. Now comes news that talks have heated up and that a nearly $90 billion deal could be in the offing. [More]
Report: AT&T May Be Trying To Buy Time Warner
By 10.21.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
With the acquisition of DirecTV complete and in the rear-view mirror behind it, AT&T is reportedly setting its eye on a new target to go out and buy: venerable media brand Time Warner. [More]
Report: AT&T Can’t Let Verizon Or Comcast Have All The Fun, Hopes To Branch Into Media
By 10.5.16
Competition for a single consumer who wants to buy pay-TV or broadband is usually nonexistent, but the world of media and TV overall is super active and cutthroat. Everyone wants a slice of your time — and money — for their media service… and the rumor mill says that’s soon going to include AT&T as well. [More]
Hulu Kills Off Free Streaming Service, Goes Subscription Only
By 8.8.16
Once upon a time, TV was mostly a thing you watched for free, over an antenna. Commercials and corporate sponsorships made up the cost for networks. Then TV became cable. Then cable became your internet, and TV was once again briefly free, through streaming services with commercials. But then came subscription internet TV, and that’s where we are today, with Hulu finally pulling the plug on its non-subscription service. [More]
Farewell, Time Warner Cable; Nobody Is Going To Miss You
By 5.18.16
The most-loathed company in all of America is soon to be no more. With the merger of Charter and Time Warner Cable approved and under way, the widely-detested TWC brand is soon to be up on the chopping block. [More]
FCC, Justice Department Approve Charter / Time Warner Cable Merger
By 4.25.16
Second time’s the charm: where Comcast failed, Charter has succeeded. Time Warner Cable officially has its buyer as of today. [More]
The TWC/Charter Merger Looks Likely To Happen — And Soon
By 3.16.16
What Comcast spent more than a year failing to do looks to be a victory in the making for Charter: As the Washington rumor mill has it, the three-way mega-cable-merge of Charter, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks could get through a major hurdle and gain approval by the end of the week. In other words, it looks like this one’s going to happen. [More]
Poll Sponsored By Charter Says Charter Is Great, More Charter Greater
By 1.20.16
Charter is still pushing very hard to get their pending three-way merger with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks approved by the FCC and Department of Justice. To that end, they’re happy to push any available evidence that they are not only great, but also working for the public interest. And what better way to gather that evidence than to sponsor their very own poll looking for it? [More]
Charter/Time Warner Cable Merger Plan Great For Everyone, According To Charter
By 11.3.15
A couple of weeks ago, the FCC collected everyone’s comments about why Charter should or should not be allowed to go through with buying Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks in one massive merger. The next step in the process is for Charter to get to respond as to why they think the yea-sayers are right and the nay-sayers are wrong, and they submitted that response this week. [More]
