Free Republic

SNIP Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was glad the merger didn’t go through. “Comcast’s withdrawal of its bid to merge with Time Warner Cable is good for the American consumer and it shows that our regulatory and legal system work,” de Blasio said in a statement. “We need more competition to bring down prices and ensure a democratic internet for all. The merger would have further concentrated market power in the cable and broadband sectors and created even greater barriers to the City’s goals of universal, affordable high-speed Internet access.” One of the concerns consumer advocates and competitors had...

It appears the long, frustrating wait for Dodgers fans hoping to see their team on TV will continue indefinitely. Multiple reports Thursday indicated the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable – distributor of the Dodgers-owned SportsNet LA – was on the verge of collapsing. The merger between the companies had been viewed as a potential solution to the distribution impasse that has prevented about 70 percent of the local market from seeing the majority of Dodgers games since the start of last season. The collapse of that deal means "the status quo remains in place," said sports-media consultant...

Federal regulators overseeing Comcast’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable want to know if the cable giants put limits on companies’ streaming video options.In letters last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asked eight major programmers including Walt Disney Co., Viacom and CBS whether or not the companies placed any “restrictions or limitations” on their ability to distribute TV shows over the Internet. ADVERTISEMENT According to Bloomberg, the Justice Department — which is also charged with reviewing the $45 billion merger proposal — is doing its own investigation into whether the merger would hurt competition for online video. While the FCC has...

The National Association of African-American Owned Media alleges that Sharpton and other advocates have been bought off. Even though the FCC hasn't yet ruled on the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, one group has already filed a lawsuit claiming at least $20 billion in damages from the way the two giants allegedly discriminate against black-owned media. The complaint, filed in California on Friday, comes from the National Association of African-American Owned Media, which also filed a similar suit against AT&T and DirecTV in December. This time, the plaintiff is not only targeting both Comcast and TWC on...