We were skeptical from the start, but obviously someone at Comcast believed that the company would eventually be allowed to acquire Time Warner Cable for the massive sum of $45 billion. Yet this morning the nation’s largest pay-TV and Internet provider walked away from the mega-merger that would have given it unprecedented market share in both of these industries and control over cable and broadband service for the two largest cities in the U.S. So how did we get here? [More]
mergers and acquisitions
Anatomy Of A Comcastrophe: A Look Back At How Comcast Failed To Buy Time Warner Cable For $45B
By 4.24.15
It’s True: The Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger Is Officially Dead
By 4.24.15
As it was predicted yesterday, so it has come to pass: after 15 months of trying to get it approved, and opposition not only from consumers, consumer advocates, and lawmakers but also from regulators, Comcast is giving up on its dreams of acquiring Time Warner Cable and walking away entirely from the merger. [More]
There Are Two Things That Could Stop The Comcast/TWC Merger, And We Might Get Both
By 4.23.15
Update: Comcast is reportedly planning to back out from the merger deal as early as tomorrow in the face of the likely opposition from both the FCC and Justice Department. [More]
AT&T Claims That DirecTV Merger Will Allow It To Expand GigaPower Fiber Network
By 4.23.15
While we’ve been critical of the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger, the motivation behind that deal is clear: It would instantly add 10 million customers to Comcast’s bottom line and give the company control over cable/broadband access for the two largest markets in the country. The reasoning behind the less-scrutinized marriage of AT&T and DirecTV isn’t as cut-and-dry. [More]
Possible FCC Hearing Could Signal End Of Comcast, Time Warner Cable Merger
By 4.22.15
While it’s already been reported that antitrust lawyers at the Dept. of Justice are leaning toward moving to block the $45 billion merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, staffers at the FCC — the other regulatory body reviewing the merger — are recommending a move that could signal opposition to the deal from both agencies. [More]
Consumer Advocates Say There Are No Conditions That Would Make Comcast, Time Warner Cable Merger Acceptable
By 4.22.15
Comcast representatives are reportedly meeting with regulators today to discuss the status of the cable colossus’s pending $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable. While some reports claim that antitrust lawyers at the Dept. of Justice are leaning toward suing to block the merger, others believe that the DOJ and FCC will attempt to put conditions on the deal in order to approve it. But consumer advocacy groups say that there are no conditions that would make this merger palatable. [More]
Comcast To Meet With Justice Dept. To Discuss Time Warner Cable Merger
By 4.20.15
In the wake of a report that antitrust attorneys at the U.S. Dept. of Justice are leaning toward blocking the pending $45 billion merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, it looks like the cable giants are going to meet with the DOJ later this week to discuss the status of the deal. [More]
Report: Justice Dept. May Recommend Blocking Comcast, Time Warner Cable Merger
By 4.17.15
It’s been well over a year since Comcast announced its $45.2 billion plan to buy Time Warner Cable and regulators at the FCC and Justice Dept. have yet to indicate publicly whether they plan to approve the deal or sue to block it. However, a new report claims that antitrust lawyers at the DOJ are leaning toward putting the kibosh on this marriage of the nation’s two largest cable operators. [More]
California Utilities Commissioner Calls For Rejection Of Time Warner Cable Deal
By 4.10.15
With Comcast set to take over Time Warner Cable’s millions of California customers, state regulators there have been scrutinizing the deal to see how it would affect consumers. Earlier this year, the state’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) suggested a number of conditions that would make the merger more acceptable, but today a CPUC commissioner publicly called for the state to block the marriage of Comcast and TWC, at least in California. [More]
Charter Digs This Whole Cable Merger Thing, Plans To Buy Bright House For $10.4B
By 3.31.15
In cable, merger mania isn’t just for the biggest players. The next tier down wants to play, too. And so we have the announcement this morning that Charter is planning to buy regional operator Bright House Networks for a cool $10.4 billion. [More]
Numbers Show That People Care Much More About Comcast/TWC Merger Than AT&T/DirecTV Deal
By 3.17.15
Last week, the FCC paused its 180-day merger review clock for both Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable and the merger of AT&T and DirecTV. But a look at the number of comments and filings for these two deals shows that one is getting much more attention than the other. [More]
Review Of Comcast/TWC, AT&T/DirecTV Mergers On Hold Again Over Confidentiality Issues
By 3.13.15
Once again, the FCC has paused the 180-day clocks to review the two pending mega-mergers on its to-do list: Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable, and the marriage of AT&T to DirecTV. This time, the FCC is saying it can’t go forward with the review of these deals until a court determines whether interested parties should be granted limited access to confidential information about the involved companies. [More]
Could Comcast Try To Buy Netflix Or T-Mobile If Time Warner Cable Deal Fails?
By 3.6.15
After more than a year of stop-start-stop regulatory review, the FCC and Justice Dept. are currently in the final stretch of deciding whether to approve, block, or put conditions on the mega-merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable. With even some formerly optimistic industry analysts now having their doubts about the deal’s success, it’s time to consider what Kabletown might do if the acquisition falls through. [More]
What We Know About AT&T/DirecTV’s Proposed Wireless Broadband Service
By 3.3.15
Last fall, an AT&T exec claimed that if his company was allowed to merge with DirecTV it could deploy some sort of wireless data service that delivered around 15Mbps to rural customers, but since then there has been very little talk of what this service would actually look like or how and where it would be deployed. But a dig through regulatory filings on the merger turns up a little more info. [More]
Dish: Comcast Could Still Use Its Size To Block Streaming Content
By 3.3.15
The FCC’s recently approved net neutrality rules will prohibit all Internet service providers from blocking any legal content from being sent or received by their users. But when an ISP also controls the nation’s largest pay-TV audience, perhaps it could use that leverage to prevent certain content from ever going online in the first place. [More]
Judges Question FCC’s Need To Share What Comcast & DirecTV Pay To Broadcasters
By 2.20.15
Those following the merger of Comcast with Time Warner Cable and AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV may remember that the FCC had hoped to make some of the cable companies’ confidential contract information available to parties with a direct interest in these deals. In November, a federal appeals court preliminarily sided with the broadcasters and temporarily blocked the FCC from sharing this info, and this morning the court heard arguments from both sides on whether or not these contracts should be kept under lock and key for good. [More]
Comcast Doesn’t Want to Improve its ‘Internet Essentials’ Program for Low-Income Consumers
By 2.16.15
With Comcast’s $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable nearing the finish line, you’d think the company would be willing to do something as insignificant as make promises to improve its broadband program for low-income users. You’d be wrong. [More]
Sysco Meets With FTC Over Foodservice Voltron Proposal
By 2.12.15
Way back in 2013, we shared the news that Sysco, the country’s biggest supplier to restaurants and other food-service facilities, wanted to acquire its next-biggest competitor, US Foods. Yet the Federal Trade Commission still hasn’t come to a decision about that proposal. FTC officials don’t agree on the question of whether Sysco plans to sell enough of its business to make sure the restaurant supply business stays competitive. [More]
