Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Bloomberg Report Suggests Comcast & Time Warner Merger Dead

Posted by timothy on from the it's-very-ill dept.

andyring writes: According to Bloomberg News, the Time Warner/Comcast merger of raw evil is dead. Comcast plans as early as tomorrow to withdraw the merger proposal, "after regulators decided that the deal wouldn't help consumers, making approval unlikely" according to the story. If so, that means regulators won't have the chance to kill it themselves.

15 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Bah ... by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They just need to regroup, figure out who to buy off, and do it again.

    I'm sure someone is up for re-election, or wants a cushy job in the private sector, who can be "convinced of the merits of the case" with a suitcase full of cash.

    Corporations don't stop doing crap like this just because the outcome would be bad for consumers.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Bah ... by geekmux · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They just need to regroup, figure out who to buy off, and do it again.

      I'm sure someone is up for re-election, or wants a cushy job in the private sector, who can be "convinced of the merits of the case" with a suitcase full of cash.

      Corporations don't stop doing crap like this just because the outcome would be bad for consumers.

      Absolutely correct. The only way you would get those involved to back off completely is if you threatened them with incarceration.

      Not even fines would deter them, since fines are usually so laughingly small they're worth paying basically every time.

    2. Re:Bah ... by bobbied · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Well, we shall see if the FCC commissioners who leave office after the next administration takes office heads towards one of these players or not. I'm not so sure the next administration will be for this merger or not. Obviously the democratic ruled commission doesn't like this idea, but which party will be in the Whitehouse and what their position on this merger would be is an open question.

      Suffice it to say, this deal is dead for at least two and likely more years.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    3. Re:Bah ... by bobbied · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They just need to regroup, figure out who to buy off, and do it again.

      So you don't think that Comcast knows who is responsible for approving the merger?

      It's not like it's hard to figure out who the FCC commissioners are. There are 5 total, 3 democrats and 2 republicans. Currently the chair is held by Thomas Wheeler, appointed by Obama who's term runs until 2018 who is a past industry lobbyist for the cable industry.

      Unless there is some serious palm greasing between now and then, I doubt that the commissioners will be changing their stance on this and given their very public refusal to approve the merger I doubt that Comcast has enough money to grease enough hands to change enough commission votes as we barrel into a presidential election cycle. It would be too much of a scandal to be worth the political risk.

      No, this deal will have to wait for the commissioners to start turning over after the current administration leaves office, which will mean a whole new set of palms to grease and/or politicians to support in the next election cycle so you can get commissioners appointed who are more favorable to your deal.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  2. Re:Good by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The issue with the price, is your are paying for the Service and the Infrastructure.
    I much rather have two bills.
    One for the infrastructure, and one for the Service.
    Much like in the old dialup days. We paid for the Phone Line, then we paid for the ISP.
    We may have had limited options for the infrastructure, but you could choose ISP.

    The problem is that We have both bundled together.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  3. Dead until 2016 or 2020 anyway by RobinEggs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The next time we have FTC and FCC leadership appointed by a Republican they'll just try the merger again, and they could easily succeed. I just don't think allowing the merger would seriously hurt the Republican president who did it. Republican strategists have their voters so anxious and paranoid over emotional topics like terrorism, gay marriage, marijuana, and immigration that who exactly would change their votes over internet service? Who would help the socialists take over and the floodgates open and another 9/11 happen just for ethical billing and some decent customer service?

    No one who believes their lies would ever vote D or I for such a trifling issue.

    1. Re:Dead until 2016 or 2020 anyway by lgw · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Republians? Surely you jest. Take of the partisan hat and look at the actual data for Hillary Clinton, presumed Dem presidential candidate.

      Her top 10 career donors are mostly investment banks (all the big names are there), but Time Warner and Cablevision make the top 10.

      Will we get a GOP candidate not already in the pockets of investment banks and cable companies? I'm not holding my breath, but it's theoretically possible, unlike the Dem side which is already bought and paid for.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  4. Help me out by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the US is an oligarchy controlled by the rich and powerful, and the Obama administration is full of corporate shills- then why didn't this merger get approved?

    1. Re:Help me out by grimmjeeper · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There are always limits when you're not a pure [insert government type here] in every sense. Sure, the US has oligarchical tendencies that are pretty strong. But it's not an outright oligarchy. The people with money can't just pay people off directly in the US. They have to do it under the table which adds a layer of complexity.

      A secondary consideration would be competition from other interests who are "lobbying" against this merger. The bigger bribe wins. Or at least a competing bribe works to negate the initial bribe. Charter may be spreading money around to scuttle the deal so it can gobble up Time Warner on the rebound.

    2. Re:Help me out by ckatko · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's a pretty silly logical fallacy. Just because they have undue influence doesn't mean they always win, or can win against the entirety of public opinion. It's far more important all of the things they can accomplish that the public doesn't know, understand, or have the capacity to mount a successful counter-campaign.

  5. Remember this when people say D vs R doesnt matter by Optic7 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As much as I feel disappointed and disgusted by things that Obama and other Democrats have done over the last several years, I still don't buy the whole line that some people here on Slashdot trot out all the time: that Democrats and Republicans are the same thing.

    You know that this deal would have sailed through and there's no way the FCC would have pushed for Title 2 regulation, if a Republican were in the White House right now.

    So remember, as dumb and crappy as some parties' actions have been lately, who you vote for still matters, even if only in limited ways. Yes, some large scale issues are pretty much a wash between the two, but there are still some issues that you can have an influence in with your vote. Pick the party and candidates who you feel are more likely to be on the same side of the issues you care about, regardless of what the naysayers say.

    Also, a shout out to Al Franken for being one of, if not the only top politicians to have questioned and criticized this merger from the beginning.

  6. D vs R doesnt matter by edawstwin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Also, a shout out to Al Franken for being one of, if not the only top politicians to have questioned and criticized this merger from the beginning.

    You just invalidated your entire argument there. If Ds were truly different than Rs in this regard, then more Ds would have been on Franken's side from the beginning.

    --
    I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying. - Woody Allen
  7. Oligarchs aren't the Borg by RobinEggs · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not all the rich and powerful got there the same way, and they don't all have the same goals. Some extremely large and influential companies lobbied *against* this merger, including (but hardly limited to) Netflix and Google, because their owners thought the merger could lose them money.

    The oligarchs in America work together on plenty of issues, this just isn't one of them.

  8. Hail Dorothy! by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hail Dorothy!

  9. Re:And Comcast's ad blitz... by tnk1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    "I didn't know what to make of the Comcast - Time Warner merger, but then I dug deeper. "

    "How so?"

    "You know my crippled mother? She really wanted to watch Game of Thrones, and Comcast remains committed to showing Game of Thrones."

    "I did not know that."

    "Yeah, and you know cute little Sally?"

    "The stripper down at the club?"

    "Yeah. Comcast has committed to showing soft core porn between the hours of 2 and 4 am."

    "I remember that's something she's really been aspiring to do."

    "And if the Comcast merger goes through, she might well get her chance."

    "Hmm. I guess I have a lot to think about."