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Comcast To Buy Time Warner Cable In $44.2 Billion All-Stock Deal

Posted by samzenpus on from the you-can-expect-payment-between-noon-and-4pm dept.

symbolset writes "CNBC and many others report Time Warner Cable has agreed to be acquired by Comcast for $44.2 billion. From the article: 'The agreement comes more than eight months after Charter Communictions and Liberty Media made their first foray to try and negotiate a deal to acquire Time Warner Cable (a story broken by CNBC) and follows months of conversations between Time Warner Cable and Comcast about the prospect of a Comcast acquisition of the company. '"

12 of 303 comments (clear)

  1. ogahdno by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    /nuffsaid

    1. Re:ogahdno by tedgyz · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Agreed!

      I love my Time Warner service. Comcast will find a way to ruin it.

      --
      "No matter where you go, there you are." -- Buckaroo Banzai
    2. Re:ogahdno by Chas · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Agreed!

      I love my Time Warner service. Comcast will find a way to ruin it.

      At what point do we begin to want Government Interference?

      Right about now actually.

      There's the whole "localized monopoly" thing. But this beast is just about the sole provider for a huge swath of the US now, and people's ability to choose providers is in jeopardy.

      --


      Chas - The one, the only.
      THANK GOD!!!
    3. Re:ogahdno by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What the fuck justice department? You sue over the US Airways/American Airlines merger, but they're just gonna fucking greenlight this one? Goddamn lobbyists! Fuck you, Comcast, fuck you!

    4. Re:ogahdno by tbuddy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As good as that sounds, if the government owns the lines they'll start spying on people's communications. *ducks*

  2. SEC block? by TrekkieGod · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In terms of competition, verizon buying time-warner is a much bigger deal than the blocked attempt of at&t buying t-mobile. This purchase can't possibly be allowed to proceed.

    --

    Warning: Opinions known to be heavily biased.

    1. Re:SEC block? by TrekkieGod · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Comcast buying time-warner, I mean. Was thinking about cell phone companies and screwed up.

      --

      Warning: Opinions known to be heavily biased.

  3. Remember kids by Dunbal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We need to cap your internet usage and charge you usage fees as well as bandwidth fees because, oh god, it's so hard to make money in the telecommunication business we just can't seem to stop having enough money to buy each other out. By the way, we're going to increase your monthly flat rate bill a good 10% again this year because hey, those "Friends" reruns sure are getting expensive to er, broadcast.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  4. Re:Antitrust lawsuit? by rudy_wayne · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't think there area any areas where both TW and Comcast operate. So it won't change the number of choices for anyone.

    This is true.

    You will just replace one shitty company with an even shittier company.

  5. increase of rates by nurb432 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, they have to pay for the purchase somehow, and you cant expect them to take it out of current profits/bank accounts.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  6. Re:Antitrust lawsuit? by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As horrendous as Comcast is, they've got nothing on Time Warner.

    Ah, but suck is additive ... which means you'll probably end up with an entity which sucks more than either could possibly be on their own.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  7. Re:Antitrust lawsuit? by coastal984 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    No, it won't eliminate consumer choice because most often Cable companies have a government-authorized monopoly on a geographic area.

    What this will do is create a powerhouse negotiator with the content companies as they would represent about 1/3 of all cable households. Who really hates this deal is those content companies, and the satellite companies. If allowed, Comcast will have the power to negotiate substantially lower TV subscription costs than Direct/Dish, and take money out of the content producer/broadcasters coffers.

    The other side is internet... but I'm not sure that this is going to affect their DSL/FIOS competitors that much. Maybe I'm wrong on this, but I think this is likely a secondary concern that lags behind the concerns of the networks/sat providers.