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Senators Come Out Against Comcast-Time Warner Merger

posted by mrcoolbp on Wednesday April 22 2015, @04:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the monopoly-Time dept.

takyon writes:

Six leading Democratic senators have written to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Department of Justice (DoJ) asking them to reject the proposed $45.2 billion acquisition of Time Warner by Comcast.

In the two-page letter, signed by Senators Franken, Sanders, Markey, Wyden, Warren, and Blumenthal, the senators warn that "Comcast-TWC's unmatched power in the telecommunications industry would lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and poorer quality services for Americans."

Sources have told the Wall Street Journal that both the FCC and DoJ are not happy with the proposed merger, and that the FCC may hold a formal hearing into the deal soon. Bloomberg also reported that staff attorneys at the DoJ's antitrust division are prepared to recommend blocking the deal [autoplay video].

 
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  • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Wednesday April 22 2015, @07:13AM

    by TheRaven (270) on Wednesday April 22 2015, @07:13AM (#173858) Journal
    The point in favour of the merger is that the two companies are already an oligopoly - they don't compete head-to-head in more than a tiny fraction of their markets, they mostly just carve up the US into places that one or the other price gouges. This doesn't necessarily mean that the merger should go ahead, but it does mean that antitrust investigators should be looking at other solutions...
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 22 2015, @12:42PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 22 2015, @12:42PM (#173928)

    The merged company will have even more of a monopoly on the buy side, when negotiating for content and labor. That hardly matters when you're talking about ESPN, but think about an entrepreneur pitching a new science channel. If Comcast won't pay a reasonable price for it, maybe TWC will. But "Bugs Cast" could just say, "Take these crumbs or get out."

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 22 2015, @02:04PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 22 2015, @02:04PM (#173970)

      > think about an entrepreneur pitching a new science channel.

      Or an entrepreneur pitching a new nutjob channel. [politico.com] So much irony there ... especially since the guy is still 100% against net neutrality.