It’s been a year since two-time Worst Company In America winner Comcast confirmed it would spend $45 billion to acquire another much-loathed pay-TV provider, Time Warner Cable. And while we all wait for the FCC and Justice Dept. to finish kicking the tires and looking under the hood of this deal, what better time to review some of the promises Comcast has made about the post-merger pro-consumer wonderland we’ll all enjoy. [More]
mergers and acquisitions
5 Empty Promises Comcast Has Made About Time Warner Cable Merger & One Promise They Won’t Make
By 2.11.15
Two Big Reasons The New Broadband Standard Is Bad News For The Comcast Merger
By 1.29.15
None of the big ISPs are happy about today’s FCC vote drastically increasing the bare minimum that qualifies as “broadband.” But even though executives at Verizon, AT&T, and plenty of others are probably muttering aloud rude words in the C-suite right now, Comcast and Time Warner Cable have good reason to be more worried than most. [More]
Politicians’ Letters In Support Of Comcast Merger Were Actually Written By Comcast
By 1.26.15
In the eleven months since Comcast announced that it would acquire Time Warner Cable, numerous local and national politicians have written to the FCC in support of the merger, claiming it will create jobs (in spite of the fact that thousands of employees will inevitably be made redundant), spark investment (even though Comcast could just invest the $40 billion instead of using it to buy TWC), and provide broadband access for the poor (a program that’s been criticized as window dressing), without hurting competition (because there isn’t any to begin with). Many of the letters hit the same points… almost as if they were ghostwritten and the politicians just signed their names to them. [More]
T-Mobile’s Parent Company Still Wants To See It Married Off To Someone Else
By 1.19.15
It’s been a little more than three years since AT&T dumped T-Mobile at the altar when it became clear that the FCC and Justice Dept. wouldn’t sign off on the marriage. And while the little magenta wireless company has done okay for itself since — building out a decent LTE network, shaking up the subsidized device/contract model, and helping to preserve what little competition remains in the market — its parent company still wants to see T-Mobile USA married off to a wealthy American suitor. [More]
Samsung Electronics CEO: We’re Not Buying BlackBerry
By 1.19.15
Last week, it was rumored that Samsung was thinking of paying more than $7 billion to acquire wireless device maker BlackBerry. But the co-CEO for Samsung Electronics says his company doesn’t want to marry Blackberry; just enjoy a friends with benefits relationship. [More]
Samsung May Be The Only One Still Interested In Buying A Blackberry
By 1.14.15
Let’s flash back to 2007, when every hotshot businessperson on the go click-click-clicked away on their Blackberry. Maybe they even had one with a really nice color screen and a scrollwheel that didn’t break after a few months. Fast-forward to now, when anyone still carrying a Blackberry gets pelted with spoiled meats and exiled to a rocky island in the Delaware River where they watch VHS tapes and dial into AOL. And yet, Samsung is reportedly thinking about paying billions of dollars to buy Blackberry. [More]
More Groups Pile Onto “Stop Mega Comcast” Coalition
By 1.12.15
Only a month ago, a coalition of more than a dozen groups formed in an effort to work together in stopping the pending merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable. And while the federal regulatory review process inched forward on this deal, more and more groups have joined in the fight to prevent Comcast from dominating the consumer broadband market in the U.S. [More]
Comcast, Time Warner Cable Merger Review Delayed Again
By 12.23.14
Even with bought-and-paid-for Senators urging the FCC to hurry up its review of the pending merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, there is only so much the regulators can do when they don’t have the documents they need to complete that review. That’s why the FCC has once again hit the pause button on the time clock for this mega-merger. [More]
Comcast Lobbyists Know How To Win Over D.C. Power Players — With Decent Customer Service
By 12.22.14
Sure, Comcast has no problem throwing around hundreds of thousands of dollars to win support from lawmakers who are willing to regurgitate whatever David Cohen tells them to say, but the company also knows how to really win people over to its side — by providing them access to customer service that isn’t horrible. [More]
Here’s What $184K In Campaign Contributions Gets Comcast — A Letter Of Support From Two Senators
By 12.11.14
Earlier today, the two U.S. Senators from Pennsylvania put aside partisan squabbling for a moment to agree that the only things more awesome than campaign contributions from Comcast are the things Comcast has told us are really cool about its pending merger with Time Warner Cable. [More]
New Coalition Steps Up To Fight “Mega Comcast” Merger As FCC Restarts Review Clock
By 12.3.14
It’s the plot of a certain kind of action movie or video game that we’ve all seen and played a thousand times: the big bad robot/alien/lizard comes crashing into town and the only thing that will stop it is when an unlikely band of allies group up and save the world. If politics and business are a game, as so many participants seem to think, then now they are apparently one of that genre, as an unlikely band of allies is now grouping together under one banner to fight the Comcast/Time Warner Cable mega-merger. [More]
Court Bars FCC From Disclosing How Much Comcast, DirecTV Pay Broadcasters
By 11.21.14
Last week’s last-minute legal battle between just about every major TV broadcaster and the FCC came to a quietly disappointing conclusion this morning, with a federal appeals court refusing to allow the government to share confidential details about the mergers of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, and DirecTV and AT&T. [More]
Charter Ready To Woo Time Warner Cable Again If Comcast Fails
By 11.20.14
Not even a year ago, Time Warner Cable was spurning the romantic advances of Charter Communications and its $37.3 billion offer of wedded bliss, all because it knew that Comcast was waiting in the wings with a more expensive proposal. But in case the Comcast/TWC marriage fails to get the blessing of federal regulators, Charter’s billionaire backer says he’s ready to be Time Warner Cable’s rebound relationship. [More]
Broadcasters Get Court To Stop Consumers From Seeing How Much Cable Companies Pay For Content
By 11.14.14
The FCC is currently mulling over whether to give its stamp of approval to two huge mergers — Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV — and is intending to make information available to third parties about the deals that that these pay-TV giants make with broadcasters. But even though you and every other cable subscriber wants to know exactly how much Comcast pays for access to channels like ESPN, MTV, and the major networks, the broadcasters want that info kept under lock and key — and they’ve asked the court to stop it from possibly going public. [More]
Hasbro Looking To Buy DreamWorks Animation Because There Aren’t Enough Toy Movies
By 11.13.14
For decades, Hasbro products — Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, Jem & the Holograms — have been the subject of TV shows and movies, but now the toy company is reportedly looking to go even bigger with the possible acquisition of DreamWorks Animation. [More]
NYC Mayor Raises Concerns About Comcast/TWC Merger
By 11.4.14
While 52 other mayors from around the country were recently reminded that Comcast is an important contributor to election campaigns, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City has been busy warning the FCC that the pending merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable is fraught with potential problems. [More]
NY Pols Want Free Broadband For Public Housing, WiFi For Parks If Comcast Deal Approved
By 10.31.14
Usually by this point in the review process of a mega-merger like the one pending between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, there are discussions about things the parties are willing to do or give up in order to make the deal more palatable to critics. But because Comcast and TWC proactively offered to spin off some 3 million customers, and because Comcast already made a bunch of promises and concessions when it acquired NBC back in 2010, there hasn’t been much chatter. But some folks in New York are making known their demands for signing off on the deal. [More]
Sale Of Motorola Mobility From Google To Lenovo Is Finalized
By 10.30.14
Earlier this year, Google sold Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for $2.91 billion in cash and stock. Just three years ago, Google bought the company for $12.5 billion, but this isn’t as terrible a business deal as it might appear: while Lenovo gets the phone business, Google gets to keep the company’s valuable library of patents. [More]
