Comcast Announces Intent to Buy Time Warner Cable

[lockedoutlogic]

Well...for fans of Disney this could be a very good thing. For those of you with cable this could be a ridiculously bad thing.

This would create a near east coast monopoly (which is probably why it should never be allowed)...but let's not kid ourselves that this won't go through...

Comcast is lining up as a real prime competitor to Disney...something they've never really had to deal with in the modern age.

Very interesting...and another log on the fire that's about to rage over the future of content and delivery.

 

[rteetz]

Well...for fans of Disney this could be a very good thing. For those of you with cable this could be a ridiculously bad thing. This would create a near east coast monopoly (which is probably why it should never be allowed)...but let's not kid ourselves that this won't go through... Comcast is lining up as a real prime competitor to Disney...something they've never really had to deal with in the modern age. Very interesting...and another log on the fire that's about to rage over the future of content and delivery.

I have time warner and am very interested to see what happens with this. I'm also interested to see how this affects Disney because Comcast is really doing a lot and very fast too.

 

[fannatic]

Comcast is buying Time Warner Cable - not Time Warner the entertainment company. This is a separate company. It will have little effect on Walt Disney World.

 

[PuppyJonathan]

Here comes the antitrust lawsuit!

 

[jcnewton]

Having had Comcast in the past and Time Warner currently....I can see no good coming from this. For anyone.

 

[mcd2745]

Having had Comcast in the past and Time Warner currently....I can see no good coming from this. For anyone.

Wow. You're saying Comcast is worse than TWC? As a TWC customer, that's a tough one to fathom.

 

[Hoodie]

Having had Comcast in the past and Time Warner currently....I can see no good coming from this. For anyone.

Must concur. I thought nothing could be as bad as Verizon customer service...until we switched to Comcast. Customer service is great! It needs to be since we've had to have them out 4 times since we switched last year and had to call about once a month for an issue. Multiple equipment failures, random resets, WiFi dropping for no reason. Saturday we get switched back to Verizon.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Well...for fans of Disney this could be a very good thing. For those of you with cable this could be a ridiculously bad thing.

This would create a near east coast monopoly (which is probably why it should never be allowed)...but let's not kid ourselves that this won't go through...

Comcast is lining up as a real prime competitor to Disney...something they've never really had to deal with in the modern age.

Very interesting...and another log on the fire that's about to rage over the future of content and delivery.

Yes this concerns me. Comcast should never have been allowed to buy NBC IMHO. Giving this much power is a disaster.

Remember when they tried to buy Disney?

 

[yitbos96bb]

Comcast is buying Time Warner Cable - not Time Warner the entertainment company. This is a separate company. It will have little effect on Walt Disney World.

Unless having an effect on ABC and other stations affects WDW

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Time Warner Cable was spun from Time Warner as a separate company in 2009. Time Warner Cable uses the Time Warner brand under a licensing agreement.

Unlike Comcast and Time Warner Cable, The Walt Disney Company is not in actual cable television, cable Internet, and telephone business. In other words, Disney does not run cables to set-top boxes, cable modems, and telephones in customers' homes and offices.

Of course, Disney owns a number of cable channels under the Disney, ESPN, and ABC brands. Also, through a joint venture with Hearst Corporation, Disney is involved with cable channels under the A&E and Lifetime brands. If Comcast is successful in merging with Time Warner Cable, the combined company will be in a strong negotiating position when it's time to renew retransmission contracts with companies such as Disney. This could be bad for Disney.

This merger should not cause much change to Comcast's theme parks business. In the short run, it might turn the focus of Comcast's top executives away from theme parks. But it's an all-stock deal, so it would not drain capital from the Universal parks.

In the long run, Comcast would be a bigger, stronger company, generating a bigger profit.

And a bigger adversary for Disney.

 

[jcnewton]

Must concur. I thought nothing could be as bad as Verizon customer service...until we switched to Comcast. Customer service is great! It needs to be since we've had to have them out 4 times since we switched last year and had to call about once a month for an issue. Multiple equipment failures, random resets, WiFi dropping for no reason. Saturday we get switched back to Verizon.

As far as cable goes, I'm stuck with TWC until I move. Half of my apartment complex is within range for AT&T U-Verse, but I'm in the wrong half. I could get a dish if only my balcony faced south....not allowed to put them out front since it's "aesthetically displeasing" to the landscaping (their words).

 

[Chuck S]

As far as cable goes, I'm stuck with TWC until I move. Half of my apartment complex is within range for AT&T U-Verse, but I'm in the wrong half. I could get a dish if only my balcony faced south....not allowed to put them out front since it's "aesthetically displeasing" to the landscaping (their words).

Like you, no U*verse, or even DSL in my area. For internet, it is TWC, satellite (expensive and unreliable) or dial-up. Hopefully, Comcast won't want to be burdened with smaller cable markets and maintaining less profitable less densely populated areas of the TWC buyout and will spin of the smaller rural areas to other providers that concentrate on and are better able to serve smaller markets, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think for most TWC subscribers, no good will come of this. We'll see increased rates and poorer services.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Comcast is buying Time Warner Cable - not Time Warner the entertainment company. This is a separate company. It will have little effect on Walt Disney World.

that's what i said...

and you kinda missed the big picture.
the point is that comcast is growing very quickly into a very large entertainment/media conglomerate.

in the short term it doesn't necessarily affect orlando...but if they continue to grow/acquire business and influence...they could conceivably start to look at further expansion in orlando - which would require heavy amounts of money due to real estate purchases/right of way work that they may start to make.

remember...these are the guys that wanted to BUY wdw ten years ago...that was a roy disney engineered coupe to mess with eisner that brought brian roberts undoubtedly days worth of farts and grins...but still.

This is largest cable company buying the second largest one...which means they control not only the archaic coaxial delivery system...but far more importantly the ISP market....

so they determine what it costs to get something from content providers....
guess who's a content provider?

Disney is a massive media conglomerate...its a supreme pizza, not a cheese one...big picture here.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

that's what i said...

and you kinda missed the big picture.
the point is that comcast is growing very quickly into a very large entertainment/media conglomerate.

in the short term it doesn't necessarily affect orlando...but if they continue to grow/acquire business and influence...they could conceivably start to look at further expansion in orlando - which would require heavy amounts of money due to real estate purchases/right of way work that they may start to make.

remember...these are the guys that wanted to BUY wdw ten years ago...that was a roy disney engineered coupe to mess with eisner that brought brian roberts undoubtedly days worth of farts and grins...but still.

This is largest cable company buying the second largest one...which means they control not only the archaic coaxial delivery system...but far more importantly the ISP market....

so they determine what it costs to get something from content providers....
guess who's a content provider?

Disney is a massive media conglomerate...its a supreme pizza, not a cheese one...big picture here.

I believe that the point is, this is very big and almost creating a monopoly. big move.

I agree with your earlier post that Comcast has power, but so did ATT and T mobile last year and the government stopped that merger.

So I think it will not be a easy go of it, to get approval.


Just my opinion.

AKK

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

If successful in gaining government approval for the cable merger, Comcast will be an immensely large company in the cable business, which traditionally has had a lot of players. Unlike mobile phone providers or airlines, Comcast and Time Warner Cable do not compete for the same customers. It's the nature of how communities usually have a single coax provider. Also, there are technologies that compete with coax.

As a percentage of the total company, NBCUniversal would become a smaller, less significant part of Comcast. It's interesting that Comcast has chosen to expand its traditional cable business, not its movie, network, or theme park business -- the parts of Comcast that compete directly with Disney.

 

[wiigirl]

I believe that the point is, this is very big and almost creating a monopoly. big move.

I agree with your earlier post that Comcast has power, but so did ATT and T mobile last year and the government stopped that merger.

So I think it will not be a easy go of it, to get approval.


Just my opinion.

AKK

x2

 

[kenny]

I believe that the point is, this is very big and almost creating a monopoly. big move. I agree with your earlier post that Comcast has power, but so did ATT and T mobile last year and the government stopped that merger. So I think it will not be a easy go of it, to get approval. Just my opinion. AKK

The difference is that MSO's dont compete so this is not a monopoly. AT&T and T Mobile competed for the same customer base If this does not get approved it would be because of the negotiating power they would have over tv, content providers etc not due to anti trust laws

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

The difference is that MSO's dont compete so this is not a monopoly. AT&T and T Mobile competed for the same customer base If this does not get approved it would be because of the negotiating power they would have over tv, content providers etc not due to anti trust laws

I beg to differ, there are many areas where you have more then 1 cable service available, Comcast, TW, local , charter etc. Not to mention if Comcast ends up controlling all or most of the cable service, it could be a monopoly and prices could go though the roof.

However your point on anti trust is well taken!

Time will tell what happens!

AKK

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I beg to differ, there are many areas where you have more then 1 cable service available, Comcast, TW, local , charter etc.

Depending which article you read, there is either very little overlap between Comcast and Time Warner Cable or none at all. Both companies have cable systems in 3 of the top 50 metropolitan areas: New York, Kansas City, and Louisville, but their franchises are for different cities or suburbs. If there are neighborhoods where Comcast and Time Warner Cable overlap, the overlap is minimal.

Installing the physical infrastructure for a cable system is expensive. Although there are some neighborhoods where a second provider has installed a second physical infrastructure, that's the exception not the rule. Also, cities usually award franchises to a single provider. The real competition comes from the two big satellite operators, Dish Network and DirecTV.

A quotation from Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has shown up in numerous articles this week: "Significantly, it will not reduce competition in any relevant market because our companies do not overlap or compete with each other."

Even so, as part of the acquisition, Comcast plans to divest 3 million of Time Warner Cable's 11 million subscribers to remain below a 30 percent share of the US market.

Despite all this, count me as one of the people who is distrustful of this merger.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Net neutrality is the bigger concern here.

Depending which article you read, there is either very little overlap between Comcast and Time Warner Cable or none at all. Both companies have cable systems in 3 of the top 50 metropolitan areas: New York, Kansas City, and Louisville, but their franchises are for different cities or suburbs. If there are neighborhoods where Comcast and Time Warner Cable overlap, the overlap is minimal.

Installing the physical infrastructure for a cable system is expensive. Although there are some neighborhoods where a second provider has installed a second physical infrastructure, that's the exception not the rule. Also, cities usually award franchises to a single provider. The real competition comes from the two big satellite operators, Dish Network and DirecTV.

A quotation from Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has shown up in numerous articles this week: "Significantly, it will not reduce competition in any relevant market because our companies do not overlap or compete with each other."

Even so, as part of the acquisition, Comcast plans to divest 3 million of Time Warner Cable's 11 million subscribers to remain below a 30 percent share of the US market.

Despite all this, count me as one of the people who is distrustful of this merger.