Comcast - Time Warner merger

Initially reminds me of the failed T-Mobie acquisition by AT&T.

 

I hope they kill it too. I never understood why major cable providers can't be in the same market.

 

They be colluding so as to avoid a race to the bottom. Simple prisoner's dilemma.

 

This would be terrible. FCC and Justice Department need to strangle the beast in its cradle. Comcast will have control over 1/3 of the domestic pay-TV population. It will have enormous leverage in everything especially prices and content. Industry consolidation only hurts consumers.

 

The cable industry landscape is totally different from that of the wireless industry. We are at a point now where the wireless carriers are going at each other fiercely. Cable companies basically collude not to compete with each other.

 

What's the difference? Neither comcast or time warner compete in the same markets. So all this would do is change the ones that are currently on time warner to comcast.

 

This is my point. I didn't have a clue about the cable industry until Comcast and TW "traded" Dallas and Houston with each other 7-8 years ago. For me, that's when the light bulb went off. From a competitive and consumer standpoint, someone explain to me why this merger should be blocked.

The combined company will have increased leverage negotiating with networks. Would that be a bad thing for consumers?

 

Because there is only one backhaul infrastructure for cable. Why would a cable company come in and run their own cable when they could just run fiber?

The cable and DSL companies are not the big piece of the problem. As much as we love to hate them, they run on thin margins to bring the best possible to the market.

The problem as a whole is a failure of future development from developers and the government. Utilities, which are granted breaks from the government, extort new comers (like fiber) on running backhauls on their poles. The government does very little to encourage this growth and leave it to the private sector to figure it out.
Additionally, developers do very little to ensure their new communities have the latest and greatest technology.

 

Its a bad thing because the cable companies only true competitors are fiber. You have a mammoth beast that now has more power than ever to shape the direction of the internet. You no longer have two major business models to experiment with.
For example, Comcast could approach revenue and customer service issues by continuing to expand on their infrastructure.
Time Warner could use their money on trying to squash out competition and them be the premium go-to provider, even though they suck. They could cut costs by adding data caps and throttling sites (net neutrality).

The TV side is still pretty important. While you may think they can negotiate better rates, keep in mind they also have their own channels. While DirecTV and Dish can keep them in check, there are many other channels that can pose a problem for customers (think CSN).

TL;DR This merger creates a too big to fail situation and squashes innovation

 

I see your point. Do you have a link that shows the national market share distribution between the main cable and satellite companies? Just trying to get a picture on how dominant this #1 + #2 merged behemoth would be.

 

This will not end well.

I give my TMC broadband about a year before it turns to ****.

 

They will also have increased leverage raising consumer prices whenever they feel like it.

 

ugh, does anyone know if Clear still sucks?

 

I had TWC-NYC for years and it sucked and was very expensive, now I have optimum which is comcast, and it also sucks is also very expensive. So basically either no change or things will be twice as bad.

 

I'm guessing this will have NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER on when I can watch my Rockets on TV in Houston, so I don't care.

 

Exactly. I have TWCNYC and its expensive and crap. People pay because theres not many options. TWC pretty much dictate their own prices and give whatever service they feel like.

 

I had TW for many years in Austin before switching to Uverse last year. Generally, I liked the service and the price. As long as you were willing to renegotiate yearly, you could always get the advertised deals. I guess, for those in Austin with TW that are Astros fans, this is a great thing. I'm not switching back just to get CSN-H. But that's certainly one big way to get more coverage.

 

How so? Since Comcast and TW don't compete now, the market share of the combined company in a given locale won't be any bigger. Their leverage to increase cable and broadband prices would remain the same, right?

I'm curious to see how ballistic Direct TV, Dish and AT&T go against this merger. Same for Apple & Google (who I expect will be low key).