A group of antitrust experts spanning the country, from Harvard to Stanford and plenty of places in between, has asked the FCC to block the Comcast and Time Warner Cable union. In a letter, the experts urge the FCC to act to to “protect competition and consumers” by preventing the merger before it happens. [More]
mergers and acquisitions
FCC Pauses Review Of Both Media Mega-Mergers Because Content Companies Won’t Share Confidential Info
By 10.22.14
The slowly-turning wheel of the approvals process for two big media mergers has temporarily ground to a halt, as the FCC today announced delays in their reviews of both AT&T’s planned acquisition of DirecTV and also the Comcast/Time Warner Cable union. The delays in both proceedings stem from the same core issue: media content companies who don’t want their rivals to learn their secrets. [More]
Justice Dept. Digging Deep “In The Weeds” Of Broadband Issues In Comcast/TWC Merger
By 10.20.14
Comcast and Time Warner Cable have been making the case for their merger nearly all year. The two companies talk up their TV programming sides a lot, but most watchers know that the merger — and the future — are really all about broadband, and that market is what Comcast is poised to control on a national scale. That potential dominance has worried not only businesses and consumer advocates, but also has apparently attracted the attention of the Justice Department as well. [More]
Another City Wants To Stop Comcast From Taking Over Cable Service
By 10.16.14
Weeks after city leaders in Lexington, KY, made it clear that they are not pleased about the promise of being passed around like a hot potato from Time Warner Cable to Comcast to Charter, the City Council of Worcester, MA, is also laying out the unwelcome mat for Comcast. [More]
T-Mobile CEO “Sick And Tired” Of Takeover Talk
By 10.7.14
T-Mobile has long been considered a juicy, low-hanging magenta fruit that some bigger company could pick off and devour. But after years of being wooed by suitors from the Death Star, Japan, and France, T-Mobile CEO John Legere says it’s time to stop talking about his company being acquired by someone else. [More]
Consumer Advocates Urge Justice Dept. To Block Comcast/TWC Merger
By 10.2.14
The FCC isn’t the only agency reviewing the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger; the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice is all over it, too. And while the full public doesn’t get to have its riotous say with the DoJ the same way we did with the FCC, businesses and consumer advocates can file in opposition (or support). Our colleagues down the hall at Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, have now officially chimed in to ask the DoJ to watch out for the interests of consumers, and block the merger. [More]
NFL Sunday Ticket To Remain A DirecTV Exclusive
By 10.2.14
Millions of football fans now have a reason to not ditch DirecTV. After months of negotiations, the satellite service has finally renewed its deal to be the exclusive carrier for NFL Sunday Ticket. [More]
Media Companies Afraid To Show FCC Their Comcast Contracts Because Rivals Might Learn Their Secrets
By 9.30.14
It’s no secret that media companies are pretty worried about the repercussions of letting Comcast and Time Warner Cable merge. But what is a big secret are the agreements that those companies have with Comcast and TWC right now. They’re so secret, in fact, that networks are refusing to share any data with the FCC because they’re afraid their rivals might benefit from it. And that’s a problem, because without that data, the FCC is missing one of the key tools it should have in its toolbox as it evaluates the merger. [More]
DirecTV Shareholders Sign Off On AT&T Merger
By 9.25.14
While the rest of the world waits for regulators in D.C. to decide if AT&T and DirecTV should be allowed to live together in wedded bliss, one group of people has already given their blessing to the deal. [More]
Comcast: Opposition To TWC Merger Is Just “Extortion”
By 9.24.14
UPDATE: Some groups are now calling on Comcast to apologize for the “extortion” allegation, with former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps saying that “Comcast’s suggestion that we’ve offered to withdraw our opposition in return for favors from the company is absolutely unfounded and untrue.” [More]
FTC May Block Planned Sysco And U.S. Foods Merger
By 9.23.14
Last December, we shared the news that commercial food suppliers U.S. Foods and Sysco were planning a merger, which would put about a quarter of the country’s entire foodservice-supply business in the hands of one company. The merger hasn’t yet gone through, and the Federal Trade Commission is considering a federal antitrust lawsuit to stop it. [More]
Comcast CEO “Cautiously Optimistic” He Can Shove TWC Merger Down Regulators’ Throats
By 9.17.14
We’re still months away from the FCC and the Justice Dept. completing their reviews (and hopefully putting the brakes on) the merger between the nation’s two largest cable companies. And even though the initial questions being asked by regulators show that the deal is not inevitable, Comcast’s CEO is counting on being able to convince the folks in D.C. that this alliance isn’t entirely unholy. [More]
Microsoft Buys Minecraft Maker For $2.5 Billion
By 9.15.14
It’s official — Microsoft has decided it wants to play a lot of Minecraft, and it’s willing to pay $2.5 billion for the right to do so. The company announced today that it reached a deal to purchase Swedish Minecraft developer Mojang. [More]
AB InBev Getting Drunk On Idea Of Buying SABMiller For $122 Billion
By 9.15.14
It’s late at night and Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller are the only two beer companies left in the bar… mostly because these two have merged with everyone else in town. So what’s the harm in a couple of acquisition-tipsy beer biggies getting together? That’s why AB InBev has reportedly been texting its banking buddies for advice on hooking up with Miller. [More]
General Mills Acquires Annie’s Homegrown Foods, Bunny Mascots
By 9.9.14
Annie’s is a 25-year-old company based in Berkeley, California that has its organic products everywhere from the shelves of health food stores to the checkout of Target. General Mills is 158-year-old company based in the Minneapolis area that owns familiar American brands like Cheerios cereal and Green Giant frozen vegetables. These companies are getting hitched, thanks to their shared love of the growing organic food market and money. [More]
Discovery Not Afraid of Sharks Or Comcast; Comes Out Against Merger
By 9.8.14
We told you last week that even though the initial public commenting period for the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger has ended, the FCC is still talking to various media companies — including Discovery, operator of seemingly countless cable channels — to get their insights on the deal. Now the details of Discovery’s anti-merger arguments are being made public. [More]
Dish & T-Mobile Spotted Canoodling In Corner Of Merger Meat Market
By 9.8.14
Maybe Dish and T-Mobile are just friends who had a little too much to drink one night. Maybe they were commiserating how they were still single while each of their failed merger partners are making plans for a future of little satellite-equipped Death Stars. Regardless of how they got to this place, Dish and T-Mobile are apparently in those early, giddy, everything’s rosy days of thinking about getting their merger on. [More]
Comcast: Approve TWC Merger Because Broadband Will Still Suck Just As Much
By 9.5.14
Yesterday, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler surprised a lot of people by publicly discussing the woeful state of broadband competition in the U.S. Some viewed his remarks as an indicator that the commission is leaning toward blocking the pending Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger, but the ever-optimistic (read: delusional) Comcast argue that Wheeler’s words actually support the deal. [More]
