Comcast Agrees to buy Time Warner Cable

• dlazz

  Two biggest cable providers merging. That's what America needs: less competition in the Cable TV market
  
  
  http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/13/technology/comcast-time-warner-cable-deal/index.html?iid=HP_LN
  

  If the deal is approved, the combined group will be the country's dominant provider of television channels and Internet connections, reaching roughly one in three American homes.

• Fly4Fun

  

  dlazz;1580431 wrote:Two biggest cable providers merging. That's what America needs: less competition in the Cable TV market
  
  
  http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/13/technology/comcast-time-warner-cable-deal/index.html?iid=HP_LN

  From my understanding, it's not as if they were really competitors since they generally aren't in the same regions.
• Lovejoy1984

  

  Fly4Fun;1580432 wrote:From my understanding, it's not as if they were really competitors since they generally aren't in the same regions.

  Correct very little if any direct competition between the two companies.
• dlazz

  HighRoller74;1580433 wrote:Correct very little if any direct competition between the two companies.

  Doesn't really matter. You're still thinning out the pool. The FCC rejected the ATT/Tmo merger for the same reason.
• I Wear Pants

  I hate this, I'm a TWC customer and I don't want them to somehow get shittier, which Comcast is.
  
  Also, the regional monopolies are complete bullshit, who defends these politically?
• Midstate01

  

  This sucks. Was reading this could kill Apple TV. I was loving not having cable.
• I Wear Pants

  Midstate01;1580444 wrote:This sucks. Was reading this could kill Apple TV. I was loving not having cable.

  With the way Comcast has been fighting streaming services like Netflix and the like I find it hard for anyone to believe that they wouldn't try to push back even more with increased power. Really hoping the DOJ putts a stop to this.
• Midstate01

  

  I Wear Pants;1580446 wrote:With the way Comcast has been fighting streaming services like Netflix and the like I find it hard for anyone to believe that they wouldn't try to push back even more with increased power. Really hoping the DOJ putts a stop to this.

  Me too
• LJ

  

  I think they divest as much as they have to to get the deal through
• dlazz

  LJ;1580471 wrote:I think they divest as much as they have to to get the deal through

  I still don't think it's possible. In no way, shape, or form does this deal help the consumer. None.
• dlazz

  ccrunner609;1580496 wrote:I have Dish
  
  
  hope this helps

  That doesn't help, since I'm about 90% sure you have TW as your internet provider.
  
  Edit: And you do. Source: you
  
  http://www.ohiochatter.com/forum/showthread.php?38731-Help-with-my-cable-provider&p=1368644&viewfull=1#post1368644
• gut

  I Wear Pants;1580446 wrote:With the way Comcast has been fighting streaming services like Netflix and the like I find it hard for anyone to believe that they wouldn't try to push back even more with increased power. Really hoping the DOJ putts a stop to this.

  Is that why my Netflix is so tempermental? I thought maybe it was my old PS3 or being too far from my router (a movie will play fine for a while, then just freeze and not be able to reconnect).
  
  Otherwise, I think Comcast is awesome - even have an Android app and you can watch about anything on your tablet/smartphone/pc over the internet. 0 complaints about their service - and I've had TWC and RCN and I thought both were absolutely awful.
• dlazz

  gut;1580514 wrote:Is that why my Netflix is so tempermental? I thought maybe it was my old PS3 or being too far from my router (a movie will play fine for a while, then just freeze and not be able to reconnect).
  
  Otherwise, I think Comcast is awesome - even have an Android app and you can watch about anything on your tablet/smartphone/pc over the internet. 0 complaints about their service - and I've had TWC and RCN and I thought both were absolutely awful.

  In the early-to-mid 2000's, Comcast was a big pusher for metered bandwidth. AKA you get x amount of GB per month. If you go over, you get decked a fee.
  
  Basically how cell phone networks operate. Do you want your internet bill to work that way?
• Commander of Awesome

  

  http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/02/06/272480919/when-it-comes-to-high-speed-internet-u-s-falling-way-behind
  
  This is a great reason why it should be stopped.
  
  I'm curious if there is anything we can do to help stop this. Call our congressman or something equally time wasting. Being serious, how can we stop this?
• gerb131

  

  Kinda like rearranging deck chairs on the titanic
• gut

  dlazz;1580521 wrote: Basically how cell phone networks operate. Do you want your internet bill to work that way?

  If it means my internet price goes down, why not? I never had a problem managing my data usage on cell phones. The idea that you pay for what you use isn't exactly a novel concept.
  
  Besides, as more people "cut the cord" and access content they didn't pay for via torrent and what not....internet prices will go up. Shouldn't someone who uses the internet as their cable provider pay more than you (assuming they are using 3-4x the bandwidth as a result)?
• dlazz

  gut;1580531 wrote:If it means my internet price goes down, why not? I never had a problem managing my data usage on cell phones. The idea that you pay for what you use isn't exactly a novel concept.
  
  Besides, as more people "cut the cord" and access content they didn't pay for via torrent and what not....internet prices will go up. Shouldn't someone who uses the internet as their cable provider pay more than you (assuming they are using 3-4x the bandwidth as a result)?

  Your Internet price isn't going to go down in that scenario.
  
  Read COA's link. It sums it up pretty well
• dlazz

  gerb131;1580528 wrote:Kinda like rearranging deck chairs on the titanic

  Drew Carey compared it to the DMV buying the DMV. I thought it was a hilarious and accurate comparison.
• gerb131

  

  dlazz;1580537 wrote:Drew Carey compared it to the DMV buying the DMV. I thought it was a hilarious and accurate comparison.

  Lol drew still has his good moments
• justincredible

  

  I don't have cable but I do have Roadrunner for internet. If my rates go up any more I'll just switch to Cincinnati Bell.
• gut

  dlazz;1580536 wrote:Your Internet price isn't going to go down in that scenario.
  
  Read COA's link. It sums it up pretty well

  I understand what they are doing. Maybe "my prices won't go up as much" is more accurate, but the fact is the cable companies are going to get their money one way or another, and if people are stealing content I'm quite happy to let them pay for it one way or the other, as opposed to me subsidizing their "free content". The US is a big, big country that is not densely populated outside the bigger metropolitans - that infrastructure costs a lot of money and isn't going to be price competitive with what it costs to cover Seoul.
  
  This is pretty basic. If you cut the cord and watch a bunch of content on Netflix, then charging Netflix more (which they pass on to you) is one way to recover those lost revenues. That's just one option available to them, alternatively they could raise internet prices for everyone, or go to metered service, among other things. And they already kind of adjust for that, offering bundled services that heavily discounts the individual pieces.
  
  I don't really get what is so horrible or shocking that a cable company would have a competitive response to Netflix using that cable company's own services to siphon revenues from them. I don't like the tactics, but simply put there is a price/share agreement that maximizes revenues for both parties. I agree it's unfortunate the consumer suffers, but it takes two to play this game - it isn't just the big, bad cable companies as the culprit here.
• Glory Days

  

  Neither Comcast or Time Warner are available in my area, hope this helps.
  
  
  and even though I hated TWC, their internet was better that Cox, which is my only option.
• Classyposter58

  

  Fuck Time Warner and their bull shit! I miss my DirecTv back at home so much, this shit in BG is terrible, $22 extra a month for a box with DVR, is this a joke? Plus FS Detroit doesn't even show up on it, so I'm stuck watching the shitty Indians or a team 4 hours away in Cincy
• dlazz

  gut;1580553 wrote: I don't really get what is so horrible or shocking that a cable company would have a competitive response to Netflix using that cable company's own services to siphon revenues from them.

  Because it drastically harms innovation. With moves like this, it makes their footprint bigger and encourages them to raise prices while not actually pouring money into the infrastructure.
  
  It's bullshit that they'd get to charge Netflix. It'd be like the electric company charging appliance manufactures because they make power-hungry dryers.
• like_that

  

  Classyposter58;1580566 wrote:Fuck Time Warner and their bull shit! I miss my DirecTv back at home so much, this shit in BG is terrible, $22 extra a month for a box with DVR, is this a joke? Plus FS Detroit doesn't even show up on it, so I'm stuck watching the shitty Indians or a team 4 hours away in Cincy

  Maybe you shouldn't be a bandwagon fan.