We here at Consumerist are skeptical at best about Comcast’s bid to merge with Time Warner Cable. From where we sit, the deal looks distinctly anticompetitive and likely to harm consumers. Plenty of other folks agree, but not just lawmakers and advocacy organizations. It turns out, over half the country thinks this is a bad idea. [More]
mergers and acquisitions
Survey: Over Half The Country Thinks The Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger Is A Terrible Idea
By 6.19.14
AT&T/DirecTV File Merger Docs With FCC, Argue They Need To Merge To Compete Against Comcast
By 6.12.14
The busy summer telecom merger season continues apace. Late yesterday, AT&T filed its paperwork with the FCC, officially kicking off the regulatory process that the company needs to get through in order to buy DirecTV and allow the two to live happily ever after. [More]
AT&T Wants To Bring NFL Sunday Ticket To Its Wireless Customers
By 6.9.14
As we mentioned a few weeks ago, DirecTV’s exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket package is so vital to the satellite service’s business that AT&T can walk away from the two companies’ pending $49 billion merger if DirecTV and the NFL are unable to renew their contract. Now AT&T is trying to convince investors that Sunday Ticket could be a boon to its wireless business. [More]
FCC Could Use Mergers To Force Net Neutrality, But Shouldn’t
By 5.23.14
It’s a big year for the FCC. It’s got two huge mergers to review — Comcast/Time Warner Cable, AT&T/DirecTV — while also trying to reinstate the recently gutted net neutrality laws without ticking off the entire Internet. These related issues put the FCC in a position to force some cable operators to accept stricter net neutrality, but that’s really just kicking the can down the road. [More]
Comcast Spending Big On Legion Of Lobbyists To Try To Win Approval For TWC Merger
By 5.23.14
Mergers are an expensive business. Not only is Comcast spending $45 billion just to buy Time Warner Cable, but also there are the costs of getting the deal approved. Trying to convince regulators and lawmakers that this arrangement is not only not harmful, but potentially beneficial, is a hefty undertaking. That means a legion of lobbyists. [More]
6 Things Consumers Can Expect If AT&T and DirecTV Merge
By 5.21.14
2014 is apparently the year of the TV merger. Over the weekend AT&T and DirecTV announced their plans to join in corporate marriage. So if a phone giant buys a satellite giant, what’s the end result for consumers? [More]
AT&T Can Walk Away From DirecTV Deal If NFL Sunday Ticket Not Renewed
By 5.20.14
Over the weekend, AT&T and DirecTV announced a huge $49 billion merger deal to make the nation’s largest satellite provider even larger and bolster the second-largest wireless provider’s efforts to compete with Verizon. But this merger could all fall to pieces if DirecTV doesn’t renew its exclusive deal with the NFL. [More]
Groups Protest Time Warner Cable Merger Outside Comcast Meeting
By 5.20.14
On Thursday, Comcast’s investors will be meeting here in Philadelphia, but they’ll be doing so over the din of protestors from numerous local and national organizations who are coming out to oppose the cable company’s planned merger with Time Warner Cable. [More]
AT&T Makes Deal To Acquire DirecTV, Bring Satellite Service To Death Star
By 5.18.14
After weeks of being spotted together walking hand in hand in the park (under the mindful eyes of their banker chaperones), AT&T and DirecTV have officially announced they want to spend the rest of their lives in wedded bliss. Of course, since happiness isn’t always free, said bliss involves AT&T paying $49 billion in stock and cash. [More]
AT&T & DirecTV Reportedly Near $50 Billion Deal To Put Satellite On Death Star
By 5.12.14
Spring is in the air, and the rumors of a blossoming romance between AT&T and DirecTV are heating up. The latest gossip from those always dependable “sources close to the situation” is that the nation’s #2 wireless provider and its #1 satellite TV service are haggling over the details of a deal worth $50 billion. [More]
AT&T And DirecTV Meeting Up For Coffee To See If There Is A Merger Spark There
By 5.8.14
After liking each other’s profile photos on OKtelecupid.com, a corporate dating site we just made up, AT&T and DirecTV are taking the all-important next step of meeting up for coffee and chat (along with regular bathroom breaks to text their bankers with updates) to see if wedded bliss is in their future. [More]
Media Companies’ Silence On Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger Speaks Volumes
By 5.2.14
While numerous advocacy and public interest groups have publicly come out to declare their opposition to the merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, those companies whose business will most directly be affected by the tie-up — broadcasters, streaming services, production studios, advertisers — have remained relatively silent. But it’s not because they don’t have an opinion on the matter. [More]
AT&T Reportedly Interested In Wooing DirecTV, Completing Death Star
By 5.1.14
While the pending marriage of Comcast and Time Warner Cable has had people thinking about DirecTV and Dish giving wedded bliss another try, a new report says a different suitor has DirecTV in its lustful gaze: AT&T. [More]
Internal Comcast Memo Says Consumerist Is All About “Headlines,” So Here’s One For Them
By 4.30.14
Earlier this month, Consumerist readers voted to hand Comcast its second Worst Company In America title, the results undoubtedly tied to the cable company’s ill-advised decision to acquire equally cruddy pay-TV provider Time Warner Cable. But rather than own up to — or even ignore — its WCIA tournament victory, the company chose to send out a memo to thousands of employees name-checking Consumerist and accusing us of being all about making headlines. [More]
Regional Sports Channels Highlight Problem With Comcast/TWC Merger
By 4.29.14
When Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal questioned Comcast and Time Warner Cable execs about how the merger of these companies would impact regional sports programming, the two cable operators shrugged it off as a silly question. But it’s not, and here’s why. [More]
Comcast Deal With Charter Isn’t About Improving Competition; It’s About Carving Up Marketplace
By 4.28.14
Earlier today, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications finally confirmed reports that the three would be playing swap-the-subscribers in an effort to make the unappetizing Comcast/TWC merger slightly less sickening. But while Comcast wants consumers and regulators to believe this sacrificial offering is about keeping the marketplace competitive, it’s really just an easy way for the players to rearrange their customers for better regional monopolies. [More]
Comcast/TWC Reveal Plan To Hand Over 4 Million Customers To Charter
By 4.28.14
As expected, Comcast and Time Warner Cable confirmed this morning that, through a combination of customer swaps and spin-off, shed themselves of around 4 million customers who will land, at least in part, in the lap of Charter Communications. [More]
Franken: Media Companies Are Afraid To Speak Out Against Comcast
By 4.14.14
Minnesota Senator Al Franken has made no effort to hide his opposition to the pending merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Now the actor/writer-turned-lawmaker is saying he wishes others would be more open about their feelings on the controversial deal. [More]
