Oh Wonderful!!! Media/Cable/Web just got even more consolidated! Comcast to buy TWarner

[Armstead]

Well as if we weren't enslaved enough to a handful of Media Giants....A new monopoly is being formed.

We are so lame if we allow these things to keep happening. Pretty soon this country will just be One Big Corporation....With the help of leaders of both political parties....The article says it wil face FCC scrutiny, but we've heard that one before.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-12/comcast-said-to-agree-to-pay-159-a-share-for-time-warner-cable.html

Excerpts:

Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) agreed to acquire Time Warner Cable Inc. for about $44 billion, combining the largest two U.S. cable companies in an all-stock deal, according to four people familiar with matter.

Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts will extend his lead in the U.S. cable-TV market after trouncing John Malone-backed Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR), which had courted Time Warner Cable since June. Holding out for a better offer than Charter’s $132.50-a-share bid allowed Time Warner Cable to deliver an almost 70 percent gain for shareholders since the end of May.
“This leaves Comcast as the sole king of the cable hill, with John Malone and Charter hitting a brick wall in their hopes of becoming a close number-two,” Richard Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG LLC, said by e-mail. “This is a game changer for Comcast.”

A tie-up between Comcast and Time Warner Cable would face tough scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission, Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson LLC, said in an interview in January. The merged company would account for almost three-quarters of the cable industry, according to the National Cable Television Association.

MORE

[JHB]

1. Remember when we used to enforce anti-trust laws?

Although for a long stretch, there was an exception...

[Enthusiast]

4. Where is Teddy Roosevelt when we need him.

They have really allowed this corporate thing to get out of control.

[Armstead]

6. Frankly, it's been so long ago that they stopped that I don't even remember, but.....

I do remember when there were at lest some regulations of media and healthcare systems and other basic systems.

But we've managed to find that worst case scenerio where we've allowed monopolies while also stopped regulating them

[defacto7]

2. Looks like we're dialing back

about 120 years.

[Armstead]

12. John D. Rockefeller and William Hearst and JP Morgan would be proud nd happy today

[jsr]

14. .

[Armstead]

15. Pretty f'in scary....But we don't care as long as we gits our Duck Dynasty

[Enthusiast]

3. While I am opposed to all further consolidation I doubt

that this acquisition could make me hate my Time Warner Cable more than I already do.

[Armstead]

5. I'll second that...

[Enthusiast]

7. I hope to switch back to Dish Network, which I find to be superior in every way.

[Armstead]

11. Until Comcast buys them (or vice versa)

[Enthusiast]

13. Yeah, So much for that, "Competition is good for the nation."

Gee.

[Eleanors38]

8. Maybe we need a "party line" app to cut costs.

[Armstead]

16. Sometimes it seems like tin cans on a string will soon be the only altrnative to the gougers

[dembotoz]

9. this could be good for business customers

broadband thru comcast is cheaper than time warner

although the contracting is a bit whacky

[Armstead]

10. Its not a matter of specific prices at specific times

The bigger and more monopolistic these companies get, the more power they have to abuse all customers.

(I realize they already have geographic monopolies, but it extends beyond that.)

[lpbk2713]

17. I fully expect to pay more and get less.

Paving the way for private enterprise to take over the WWW.

It's coming, it's just a matter of time. Cable and the telcos
have bought out all the right politicos who are supposed to
regulate them. They even write the laws that apply to them.

[Armstead]

18. Yup...Enjoy DU whle it lasts

[Armstead]

19. kicking this to bolster other petition thread on same subject