Comcast-TWC: The Next Communications Dynasty?

Logo of Comcast Latina: Insigne Comcast (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reports of the death of cable TV may have been exaggerated, as Mark Twain might have put it.  Comcast and Time Warner Cable are proposing merger, bringing together the two biggest cable and Internet providers in America in a reported $45 billion deal.  They are also two of the least liked companies in terms of customer service.  If the deal passes federal regulators, the new company would have more than 30 million subscribers.

Comcast owns cable systems in major cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul and San Francisco.  They also own NBC, a movie studio and assorted other TV channels.  TWC, which used to be part of Time Warner, owns cable systems in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. 

This is what has Congress and others who care about the free (and affordable) flow of information deeply concerned.  Not only would the merged company exert control over what viewers can watch over the big screen, but also what goes into the Internet.  Whether you subscribe to cable or not.

Cable has been losing customers to so-called "cord cutting" because of the high cost, and because of all the alternatives available through their computer and their Netflix subscription.  That's not going to be so easy as long as cable controls the Internet.  And prices aren't going down because of the cumulative effect of passing along the cost of past mergers to consumers.

Programmers already face the possibility of showdowns with cable and satellite providers over retransmission fees.  The proposed merger of Comcast and TWC and others would give them the clout to set their own rates, and make them like it.  This has already resulted in providers removing certain channels during contract disputes, such as TWC taking off CBS or DirecTV removing the Weather Channel, leaving thousands of angry customers who didn't get what they paid for.

If a federal judge hadn't already done it, the issue of "net neutrality" (which means that providers couldn't slow down or charge higher fees to competing Internet content-makers) is pretty much dead in the water with Netflix making a deal with Comcast for better access in streaming movies for its customers.  This could open the floodgates to other companies making their own deals with Internet providers just to stay competitive, while consumers try to figure out what happened to some of their favorite websites.

The merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable should eventually be approved by federal regulators, but not without some major strings attached.  Among other things, they must offer their services to other providers.  And they may have to give up some of the assets they already have, such as NBC and its movie studio.

Oh, and as long as the proposed new Comcast is going to control a good chunk of the cable and Internet market, they could also promise a significant upgrade in its customer service.  Couldn't hurt.