While many opponents of the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger were setting off fireworks last Friday to celebrate the defeat of this deal that would have concentrated nearly 60% of the nation’s high-speed broadband accounts under one company, realists among us are pointing out that the end of that ill-fated engagement does nothing to change the already dismal competition landscape in many markets. [More]
time warner cable
That Was Fast: Charter Reportedly Already Reaching Out To TWC About Possible Merger
By 4.24.15
Today’s headlines are all about Comcast failing to buy Time Warner Cable, but there weren’t just two players in the game. Another company is losing out: Charter would have been the lucky recipient of all the mega-merger’s spun-off customers, giving them greater consolidation over markets mainly in the midwest. But with the failure of the mega-merger, TWC is now minus one new owner, and Charter is minus all those new paying customers. So if a new deal i already in the works, well, color us unsurprised. [More]
Anatomy Of A Comcastrophe: A Look Back At How Comcast Failed To Buy Time Warner Cable For $45B
By 4.24.15
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]
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]
Comcast Reportedly Planning To Bail On Time Warner Cable Merger
By 4.23.15
Following reports that both the Dept. of Justice and the FCC could use their authority to throw up roadblocks to the long-delayed $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable, Comcast is now reportedly planning to give up on the deal. [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]
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]
Senators Urge Regulators To Block Comcast Acquisition of Time Warner Cable
By 4.21.15
As we head into the final stretch of regulatory review for the pending $45 billion of Comcast and Time Warner Cable — and with the Dept. of Justice possibly prepping to block the deal — a group of U.S. Senators has written to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and FCC Chair Tom Wheeler urging them to prevent these two companies from getting hitched. [More]
Franken: Net Neutrality Win Means “We Might Just Be Able To Stop” Comcast/TWC Deal
By 4.21.15
The Comcast and Time Warner Cable merger is not going as smoothly as either company had hoped. With each passing day, the FCC seems less likely to rubber-stamp their approval, and rumor has it that the Justice Department is leaning against the corporate marriage. With momentum building, merger opponents are taking the chance to push back even harder, and that includes U.S. Senator Al Franken. [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]
Time Warner Cable Promises Free Internet Speed Boost To Charlotte Customers Before Google Moves In
By 4.10.15
The new rule of the internet might well be: where Google goes, competition flows to follow. And so, Time Warner Cable customers in Charlotte are about to see a big boost in internet speeds long before a Fiber rollout comes to their town. [More]
Time Warner Cable Hates Dodgers Fans, Tells Them To Switch To Cable Companies They Can’t Get
By 3.31.15
Baseball season is only days away, and the L.A. Dodgers are fresh off a 94-win division title season. Yet a large number of Dodgers fans can’t watch the games on TV because the cable sports channel owned by the team and Time Warner Cable has yet to reach deals that would let other pay-TV operators in the region carry the station. And TWC’s answer to these fans is mind-bogglingly idiotic. [More]
Union-Backed Campaign Asks Verizon “Where’s My FiOS?”
By 3.26.15
For years, it’s been obvious that Verizon lacked interest in expanding its FiOS fiberoptic pay-TV and Internet service beyond its existing footprint, even though the company had not fulfilled its promises in areas like New Jersey and New York City to make high-speed broadband available to everyone. And in January, Verizon officially extinguished any hope that FiOS would be bringing competition to new markets anytime soon. But a new campaign organized by the Communications Workers of America is asking consumers to demand that Verizon deliver the service it so proudly touts on TV. [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]
