Comcast-Time Warner deal provoking strong reaction

The $45 billion Comcast purchase of Time Warner cable – a combination of the largest and second-largest cable/Internet/phone companies – sparked strong reaction from many quarters.

Within days of the announcement, legal news and information website THELAW.TV polled 500 Americans and found that 70 percent thought that regulators should stop the deal from going through. Many respondents felt that the merger would result in a harmful monopoly, while others feared their already high bills would rise.

The problem with public opinion polling on this issue is that cable companies already rank at the bottom of consumer surveys, and most Americans hate them. Some published reports show the same inclinations. International Business Times ran a story with the unambiguous headline, “Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger Promises Worst Customer Service Disaster In History.” Reporter Christopher Zara cited the cable companies’ abysmal customer satisfaction ratings, and added that:

Comcast’s “... Facebook page for its Xfinity customer site is a constant stream of angry users threatening to cancel service. There are also numerous anti-Comcast pages, including ‘Comcast Sucks’ and ‘I Hate Comcast,’ which have more than 32,000 likes between them.”

Then, there are the experts.

Professor Susan Crawford offers an opinion piece for Bloomberg, “Comcast’s Time Warner Deal Is Bad for America.” Crawford, a well-known critic of cable monopoly, says that cable is the broadband monopoly, and the merger would give the industry even more power in negotiations with content providers.

Just as adamant is former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps. On Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now, Copps warned that we, “... are going to allow the Internet to be cable-ized and to be controlled by a few gatekeepers, who not only do the distribution, but control the content and can block websites, we are just doing irreparable damage to the opportunity-creating potential of broadband and the Internet.”

And Senator Al Franken (D-MN), who chairs the Senate Privacy, Technology, and the Law subcommittee, wrote to the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Federal Communications Commission. Franken said plainly, “I have serious reservations about this proposed transaction, which would consolidate the largest and second largest cable providers in America.”

In fact, Democratic members of the Senate Commerce Committee – Rockefeller, Klobuchar and Markey – indicated they’d be holding hearings on the merger.

For a somewhat more dispassionate analysis, you could turn to CNN’s “What a Comcast-Time Warner deal could mean for you.” Reporter Doug Gross notes that the merger – were it to pass regulators – could have very different outcomes for different groups of consumers. In the short run, though, it doesn’t look particularly good for any purchaser of cable/Internet/phone services. Gross quotes David VanAmburg, managing director of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, who notes that, “Whenever there are mergers of two large customer-service providers ... we tend to see quite a few problems.” In other words, “If history holds, subscribers to both companies could be in for some bumps along the way.”

And that’s just for consumers. It doesn’t look good for workers, either. Marketplace.org makes it quite clear with its broadcast, “Why the Comcast-Time Warner deal would mean layoffs.” Said reporter Amy Scott:

“The proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable announced this week has a lot of people wondering about customers' cable bills. But what about the two companies' thousands of employees? In typical corporate speak, Comcast says the deal will create about $1.5 billion in ‘operating efficiencies.’ Translation: layoffs are coming.”

So, yes, probably strong opinions and fears are warranted. Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts said confidently, “We believe this transaction is approvable.” And, despite the opposition, a number of analysts, too, think this will pass regulatory muster, although with strong conditions.

Poll: Most Americans Want Comcast/Time Warner Cable Deal Stopped (THELAW.TV, Feb. 14, 2014)

Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger Promises Worst Customer Service Disaster In History (International Business Times, Feb. 17, 2014)

Comcast’s Time Warner Deal Is Bad for America (Bloomberg, Feb. 14, 2014)

Former FCC Commissioner Warns About Comcast-Time Warner Merger, “Mindless” Media Consolidation (Democracy Now, Feb. 17, 2014)

Citing Concerns over Cable Rates, Sen. Franken Says Comcast/Time-Warner Deal Needs Careful Scrutiny (Senator Al Franken news release, Feb. 13, 2014)

What a Comcast-Time Warner deal could mean for you (CNN, Feb. 13, 2014)

Why the Comcast-Time Warner deal would mean layoffs (Markeplace.org, Feb. 14, 2014)

Comcast says $45-billion Time Warner Cable deal should win approval (LA Times, Feb. 13, 2014)