Comcast buying Time Warner

[JB in TV]

This doesn't affect us here in TV, but both Los Angeles and NYC are primarily Time Warner.

I wonder if this will get regulator approval?

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Comcast said Thursday it has reached an agreement to acquire Time Warner Cable in an all-stock transaction worth $158.82 a share. Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts called the deal "pro-competitive" and "pro-consumer," and said he's confident it will be approved.

"We're going to be able to bring better products, faster Internet, more channels, On-Demand, TV Everywhere, in a national-local platform that's really special," Roberts said...

[janmcn]

Brighthouse Networks was spun off from Time Warner about ten years ago, and they still collaborate to negotiate network shows. Hopefully, Comcast will not get it's hands on Brighthouse.

[JourneyOfLife]

No matter where people live, it is bad news.

Less competition rarely works in favor of customers!

They will have more negotiating power with content providers (movies, TV shows, etc). Therefore be able to negotiate a more profitable deal for the company (that will not likely flow through to their customers). Mean while smaller cable companies will end up paying more since they will not be able to negotiate similar deals and the cost savings of the big companies will be shifted to the smaller ones.

How does that happen? The content providers will not accept less, they will at least want the same revenue. If Mega company A pays less, them smaller companies (B, C, D, E, F, and G) will have to pay more! Of course the cost will be passed on to customers.

[JB in TV]

Yes, I was wrong, it WILL most likely affect us here...In addition to what Journey wrote,

Quoting from HuffPost Business news:

"[I]f this deal goes through, customers...will probably see prices rise, with no corresponding improvement in service," Harvard Law School professor Susan Crawford wrote last month, when the merger was still just a rumor"

"Two wrongs don't make a right, and consumers are about to get proof of that with the merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

The $45 billion merger announced Thursday might be a win for both companies, but it will be no victory for their combined 30 million customers, who are already among the least-happy customers in all of Corporate America."

"The two companies last year were the lowest-scoring cable companies in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, mainly because of the weakness of their customer service. "

[Lbmb24101]

The article i read encouraged people to write their reps in Congress to try to disuade them from approving this deal.
This article ( on MSN) also said that Netflix customers could see a raise in fees...and now is when i have just started to enjoy Netflx....

[Bavarian]

Comcast and Time Warner are big contributors to the current Administration. It will get approved, they know which gears to grease.

Time Warner went up $10/shr after announcement. Wish I had it.

[swimdawg]

This doesn't affect us here in TV, but both Los Angeles and NYC are primarily Time Warner.

I wonder if this will get regulator approval?

I hope not! I have nothing but good things to say about Time-Warner in Swimdawg North. However, Comcast in Swimdawg South is a different story! I've had mega problems with Comcast.

Brighthouse, come over to St. James, please!