While pretty much everyone is scrutinizing the pending mega-merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, not much attention is being paid to the possible marriage of the country’s second-largest wireless and pay-TV companies. And that leaves us with two big questions: What, if anything, makes these two mergers so different? And should we be more worried about a unified AT&T and DirecTV than we are? [More]
mergers and acquisitions
The Bastard Child Of Comcast/TWC Merger Gets A Name: GreatLand Connections
By 9.3.14
While plenty of us are still banging on the church window, trying to break up the impending nuptials of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the couple, along with their “close friend” (ahem) Charter Communications, have already given a name to the company that will be spun off and left to fend for itself in the wild because there just isn’t enough room for everyone’s kids. That company, which will instantly become the fifth-largest cable operator in the U.S., will have the craptastic name of GreatLand Connections Inc. [More]
Media Companies Afraid To Leave Public Comments Privately Tell FCC Why The Comcast/TWC Merger Stinks
By 9.2.14
Plenty of big companies have left lengthy public comments explaining their opposition to Comcast buying Time Warner Cable. Still, though, not everyone who is afraid of the potential consequences of the merger is able to go air their grievances publicly. Media organizations that usually love announcing their opinions to anyone and everyone have been suspiciously silent on the matter, perhaps, as Sen. Al Franken suggested, due to fears of retaliation from their largest business partner. But just because those companies aren’t filing public comments doesn’t mean that they’re in love with the merger, and they may be telling a very different story behind closed doors. [More]
New York Not A Fan Of Comcast’s Plan To Take Over TWC Service In New York
By 8.29.14
We’ve known for months that the FCC and the Justice Department are hard at work combing through the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger, but they aren’t the only ones. Although the deal will need approval from both federal agencies in order to move forward, it also has to get the states where Comcast, TWC, and Charter operate on board. And some states, New York in particular, aren’t making it easy for the cable giants to get their way. [More]
Initial Questions Offer Hope That FCC Isn’t Going Easy On Comcast/TWC Merger
By 8.22.14
While the FCC’s public comment period for the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger remain open through Monday, the commission has already sent off its first round of questions to the companies involved. And judging by both the quantity and quality of the things being asked, it looks like the FCC isn’t ready to rubber-stamp the deal. [More]
52 Ill-Informed Mayors Agree: The Comcast/TWC Merger Is Greatest Thing Ever
By 8.22.14
The gleaming USB drive that is Comcast HQ towers above the rest of the skyline here in Philadelphia, and the company is set to build another gleaming spire as a monument to its greatness right across the street. Just a few blocks away from the nation’s largest cable and Internet provider sits Mayor Michael “Why do people always laugh at my last name?” Nutter, who recently rounded up a bunch of other mayors to tell the FCC how awesome Comcast’s merger with Time Warner Cable would be. Of course, missing from that list of mayors were the leaders of New York City and Los Angeles, the two cities that would be most affected by the deal. [More]
Now’s Your Chance: FCC Public Comment Period For Comcast/TWC Merger Ends Monday
By 8.21.14
Comcast and Time Warner Cable announced their intention to merge into wedded corporate bliss back in the middle of February. Now, six months later, the process is still rolling along. Monday — August 25 — is the deadline for members of the public to leave comments with the FCC about the merger. Got thoughts? You have three days left to make them heard. [More]
Former Comcast Employee Makes Best Argument Yet For Blocking Time Warner Cable Merger
By 8.19.14
Since Comcast announced it would be buying Time Warner Cable, we’ve brought you story after story highlighting the various reasons that the merger should be stopped. But for all the thousands of words, charts, graphs and maps we’ve used, none has summed up the reason for blocking the merger than a recent quote from a former Kabletown staffer. [More]
3 Myths Comcast Is Telling The FCC About TWC Merger
By 8.15.14
Comcast has been justifiably criticized for blatantly trying to curry favor with the FCC by trying to spend $110,000 to sponsor a fundraiser honoring FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, but while the Kabletown Krew shrugged off those allegations, Comcast EVP David “The Merger Whisperer” Cohen was meeting with the FCC to push the company’s slate of semi-truths about its pending acquisition of Time Warner Cable. [More]
Will End Of Sprint’s Marriage To T-Mobile Make Things Easier For Comcast & TWC?
By 8.6.14
After months of will-they-won’t-they talks, this week Sprint finally gave up on trying to buy T-Mobile and wandered off to go try making money in other ways. But Sprint’s sad day could be good news for some other companies with mergers on their minds, it seems. [More]
Sprint Gives Up Dream Of Wedded Bliss With T-Mobile, Gives CEO Dan Hesse The Boot
By 8.6.14
Ever since Japan-based SoftBank took control of Sprint, the company has been standing outside of T-Mobile’s window with a boom box held over its head, trying to woo the magenta-hued wireless company by claiming that the only way they could both survive is if they were together forever as one. But that all came to an end yesterday, when Sprint’s arms got sore, as the company decided to pack up its boom box and went home alone. [More]
French Company Iliad Wants To Enter U.S. Market With $15B Offer For T-Mobile
By 7.31.14
Three years after T-Mobile USA’s parent company Deutsch Telekom failed to make a lasting match between its magenta-hued wireless provider and AT&T, it’s now receiving requests for T-Mobile’s hand from suitors closer to home, as French communications company Iliad has offered up a meager $15 billion for the company. [More]
You Have Until August 25 To Tell The FCC Your Thoughts About The Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger
By 7.11.14
It’s been five months since Comcast and Time Warner Cable first announced their intention to merge, but the regulatory gauntlet they need to get through first is just now ramping up. Earlier this week, the FCC announced the team doing the review, and now they’ve announced their timeline for taking comments on the matter. [More]
Dish Asks FCC To Block Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger
By 7.9.14
If you could be any player in the pay-TV industry these days, you probably wouldn’t choose to be Dish Network. It’s being sued by broadcasters for its DVR; its one competitor in the satellite market is trying to merge with AT&T, which puts Dish’s future in doubt. So it’s little surprise that Dish isn’t thrilled about the potential marriage of Comcast and Time Warner Cable. [More]
FCC Hires Opponent Of Comcast/NBC Deal To Review Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger
By 7.8.14
Comcast and Time Warner Cable have been treating their merger as a foregone conclusion ever since they announced their betrothal in February. And with the companies cozying up to regulators, dropping huge piles of cash on lobbyists and campaign contributions, and making themselves look as good as possible, it’s not hard to see why the execs at the top would be feeling confident. But the FCC has just made a few key hires that make it look like the agency might actually push back against Comcast’s financial onslaught. [More]
AT&T Says DirecTV Merger Will Save Money, But Not For Customers
By 6.25.14
While the folks at AT&T and DirecTV try to claim that their proposed merger is different from the pending marriage of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, both deals have one bit of double-talk in common, with the companies all saying their respective deals will help them be more efficient and save money while no one is willing to commit to passing those savings on to customers. [More]
New York State Wants To Hear From You About Comcast-Time Warner Merger
By 6.19.14
When I arrived for yesterday’s State of New York Public Service Commission hearing in Albany on the Comcast-Time Warner merger, there were about twenty people sitting along the aisles in a theatre that holds 500. While most Americans are against the merger, not many feel strongly enough to scale the vast poured-concrete fortress of the state university campus to speak out about it. That’s okay, though. Anyone can still make their opinion known to the PSC. [More]
Here’s What Netflix, Dish & Others Said To The FCC About The Comcast/TWC Merger
The period for leaving a comment about the Comcast/TWC merger with the FCC closed on Monday. Roughly a zillion members of the public — individuals, nonprofits, state and federal politicians, telecom companies, tech trade groups, and consumer advocates — have weighed in, including several big names in pay TV who are staunchly against the deal. [More]