Comcast Deal To Buy Time Warner Cable Is Off

[Nelson R. 560]

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-26/cox-said-to-be-mulling-time-warner-cable-takeover-joining-fray.html

 

Guess Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte would change to Cox Communications Arena. And interesting that Cox owns WSOC and WAXN in Charlotte, a city with a strong TWC presence.

 

Note that News 14 Carolina, NY1 and others are JUST rebranding to TWC News. They'd have to change again.

 

EDIT: 2-12-14 Looks like the winner is Comcast.

 

EDIT: 4-23-15 The deal is off.

[Nelson R. 560]

http://www.tvpredictions.com/tv112713.htm

 

Charter and Comcast may also be in play.

 

If this drags out for a while feel free to move this to Speculatron.

[stevieboy247 42]

 

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-26/cox-said-to-be-mulling-time-warner-cable-takeover-joining-fray.html

 

Guess Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte would change to Cox Communications Arena. And interesting that Cox owns WSOC and WAXN in Charlotte, a city with a strong TWC presence.

 

Note that News 14 Carolina, NY1 and others are JUST rebranding to TWC News. They'd have to change again.

 

 

Don't forget that the sale of Time Warner Cable also includes the expensive sports channels in Los Angeles, including the one they will launch with the Dodgers next year.

 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-time-warner-cable-lakers-dodgers-20131126,0,5269761.story#axzz2lx3D0QsW

[tyrannical bastard 3471]

Please, for the love of god, may it be Charter and Cox that get this deal....

 

If Cox were to get the Time Warner clusters in North Carolina, it could actually help News 14 by adding the resources of WSOC in Charlotte...

[LoadStar 363]

Of the three, I'm hoping for Cox, but that's just because I haven't heard anything about them.

 

From what I've heard, Comcast is just a giant clusterf... well, let's just say they're a mess. Half the time they can't keep what they're doing within a particular market straight, let alone any kind of uniformity across multiple markets. Frankly, they're already too big of a company, they don't need to get any bigger. Plus, I wasn't thrilled when I read they charge "multiple outlet" fees, not to mention charging as much for a cablecard as for a full set-top box

 

As for Charter, people who I've spoken to that have used them say they seem like 5 years behind the technology curve.

 

Frankly, I'm happy with Time Warner Cable the way it is right now. I have internet and digital cable through them, and both work very well at a (comparably) reasonable price. (I priced them against the competition, and everyone else I could get in this market would have been higher.) Their support, whenever I've called them, have been very easy to work with. The only thing I wish they wouldn't do is CCI-protect all their channels; it really reduces the utility of my TiVo.

[A3N 996]

 

Don't forget that the sale of Time Warner Cable also includes the expensive sports channels in Los Angeles, including the one they will launch with the Dodgers next year.

 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-time-warner-cable-lakers-dodgers-20131126,0,5269761.story#axzz2lx3D0QsW

 

This is one of the reasons why Comcast is very interested. Along with the possibility of covering the two largest markets in the U.S., they also get two big channels to possibly add to their collection of Comcast SportNets. From my experience, COX is a far superior cable company than the others. If I have any problems with my cable or internet, I call COX and they have a tech at my home the next day most times and they're on time to boot! It would be nice if COX were able to acquire TWC, but if they're not, then they might be better off partnering with Comcast.

[Geoffrey 779]

Looking forward to those soon-to-be "Time Warner Cable News" channels to be rebranded again.

[Jess 1110]

Any transaction that involves Comcast in some way will involve intense federal scrutiny because they own NBC. I do not think they'll be able to get Time Warner Cable in its entirety because of this. Though there's plenty of concessions they can make to get it through. Disposing of TWC's stake in Bright House would be one thing. Making sure all of the networks they own and/or operate - in particular, the RSNs - are on competing providers (satellite in particular) is another.

 

Comcast is going to make a play for at least parts of Time Warner Cable. They'd be foolish not to.

 

New York I think is the biggie for them. Already they have a huge presence on the east coast, covering DC, Baltimore, Philly, Boston, and pretty much everything surrounding it. Getting TWC's New York area systems would fill that gap. Moreover, it would get the 27% stake in SportsNet New York and all of New York 1/TWC News, which it could combine with WNBC.

 

As for LA - I think the albatross is those sports deals. Comcast is a very good operator of regional sports networks, but they have to be reeling from the debacle in Houston. Fortunately I don't think TWC has been as stubborn as Comcast and at least the Lakers channel is getting coverage, right?

[A3N 996]

 

Any transaction that involves Comcast in some way will involve intense federal scrutiny because they own NBC. I do not think they'll be able to get Time Warner Cable in its entirety because of this. Though there's plenty of concessions they can make to get it through. Disposing of TWC's stake in Bright House would be one thing. Making sure all of the networks they own and/or operate - in particular, the RSNs - are on competing providers (satellite in particular) is another.

 

Comcast is going to make a play for at least parts of Time Warner Cable. They'd be foolish not to.

 

New York I think is the biggie for them. Already they have a huge presence on the east coast, covering DC, Baltimore, Philly, Boston, and pretty much everything surrounding it. Getting TWC's New York area systems would fill that gap. Moreover, it would get the 27% stake in SportsNet New York and all of New York 1/TWC News, which it could combine with WNBC.

 

As for LA - I think the albatross is those sports deals. Comcast is a very good operator of regional sports networks, but they have to be reeling from the debacle in Houston. Fortunately I don't think TWC has been as stubborn as Comcast and at least the Lakers channel is getting coverage, right?

 

Houston is somewhat of a unique situation in that the Astros and Rockets own 80% of the RSN, I believe. Also, the Astros are horrible, so the demand for the product is not there and add to that the price per subscriber that CSN Houston is asking for and you have a recipe for disaster. I don't really think that the Houston situation will hold Comcast back from making any future sports rights deals with sports teams.

[Mrtraveler01 737]

 

As for LA - I think the albatross is those sports deals. Comcast is a very good operator of regional sports networks, but they have to be reeling from the debacle in Houston. Fortunately I don't think TWC has been as stubborn as Comcast and at least the Lakers channel is getting coverage, right?

 

It is, but it wasn't easy, or quick.

 

Now TWC is going to run a separate channel for the Dodgers as well (Sportsnet LA) because apparently putting both teams on one channel doesn't work because it makes too much sense.

 

It will be interesting to see if this new channel has as difficult of a time getting carriage as Time Warner Cable Sportsnet originally did.

[A3N 996]

 

It is, but it wasn't easy, or quick.

 

Now TWC is going to run a separate channel for the Dodgers as well (Sportsnet LA) because apparently putting both teams on one channel doesn't work because it makes too much sense.

 

It will be interesting to see if this new channel has as difficult of a time getting carriage as Time Warner Cable Sportsnet originally did.

 

It was/is all about money. While it makes sense to stick the Dodgers and Lakers on one channel, there are a lot of reasons ($) why it never happened. Also, The Lakers have a stake in TWC Sportsnet. There are two different versions as to who/what owns or will own the new Dodger channel. Some reports have it that the new network is owned by TWC with the Dodgers having a stake in. Other reports say that the Dodgers own the network but partnered with TWC to distribute and and provide other services, but it will be the production arm of the team that will produce the games. It's all a big clusterf*ck, and it involves a LOT of money, either way the Dodgers are a hot commodity winning or not so I don't see too many problems with the distribution aspect of it.

[Guest Former Member 207]

For us here in Los Angeles, it'll be interesting how this TWC sale plays out. Charter and Cox already have a presence in the market, albeit on a smaller scale compared to TWC, and of course Comcast was formerly in this area prior to the transactions involving Adelphia Cable.

 

From personal experience, I was a former TWC subscriber on a couple of occasions, with my first experience coming in 2001 just when digital cable was in its infancy. I never had an issue as far as service interruptions, but I had to discontinue my service with them by around 2004 because of some money issues. I subscribed to them again last year (thanks to those Visa reward cards they give you when you sign up), but ended up going back to DirecTV. My current neighborhood is a former Comcast service area, and even seven years after the transition from Comcast to TWC, the service and technology level is finally coming around to be at an above-average level. I think it was starting sometime last year when they finally replaced the tan-colored Motorola cable boxes that Comcast uses with ones manufactured by Cisco and/or Scientific Atlanta (depending on your service area).

 

I don't think Comcast will return back to Los Angeles, but I could see a situation, via trades, where Cox and Charter will end up with a split of TWC's L.A. service areas. For example, Charter could take the L.A. central city/county and San Fernando Valley areas (essentially from Sylmar to Wilmington [north to south], Culver City to Norwalk [west to east]), Cox could extend their territory northward along the coast to Santa Monica in L.A. County, and take the northern half of Orange County that's already occupied by TWC.

[sanewsguy 509]

I will always hate Time Warner (at least in the S.A. market), they sucked ten years ago, they suck now. They were good when they were still called Paragon. Our family had TWC ten years ago but had to scale our package down due to financial considerations at the time. We had Starz but did not want that so canceled Starz. In the process they disabled almost all the features of the Digital Cable package which pissed my parents off to no end (because they didn't cancel the digital cable, just Starz). It was very difficult to get through to their customer service department and they ended up leaving for Direct TV as a result. Equipment was very faulty and we went through at least three different boxes with them. Channel selection was very light. On Demand (which was brand new at the time) never worked. Direct was so much better. U-Verse (what we have now) is also great. It had its kinks when it first started (we got it when the service started around 2006/2007) but almost all of them have been ironed out as time has gone by. I would not recommend Time Warner to anybody.

 

I hear Cox has been a great cable company and so I wouldn't mind them buying TWC. But they left Texas in 2006 and sold their Texas systems out to Suddenlink. Would they be willing to re-enter Texas? Or, has Suddenlink been discussed as a possible suitor for Time Warner?

[1place4news 5]

 

I will always hate Time Warner (at least in the S.A. market), they sucked ten years ago, they suck now. They were good when they were still called Paragon. Our family had TWC ten years ago but had to scale our package down due to financial considerations at the time. We had Starz but did not want that so canceled Starz. In the process they disabled almost all the features of the Digital Cable package which pissed my parents off to no end (because they didn't cancel the digital cable, just Starz). It was very difficult to get through to their customer service department and they ended up leaving for Direct TV as a result. Equipment was very faulty and we went through at least three different boxes with them. Channel selection was very light. On Demand (which was brand new at the time) never worked. Direct was so much better. U-Verse (what we have now) is also great. It had its kinks when it first started (we got it when the service started around 2006/2007) but almost all of them have been ironed out as time has gone by. I would not recommend Time Warner to anybody.

 

I hear Cox has been a great cable company and so I wouldn't mind them buying TWC. But they left Texas in 2006 and sold their Texas systems out to Suddenlink. Would they be willing to re-enter Texas? Or, has Suddenlink been discussed as a possible suitor for Time Warner?

 

Cox Cable is great because they don't often get into bitter carriage disputes the way Time Warner does. They also offer great channel lineups and working equipment. On the rare occasions I had issues I always got through to customer service in a reasonable time. TWC is and always will be a terrible company that will screw its customers out of every penny possible.

[Asomrjsurf 6]

BHN should be part of deal then Comcast,AT@T U-Verse and so on in CF and maybe other area's in USA can add CFNEWS 13 to it's Lineup. Also TWCSP Channels,Metro Weather would be available to Surewest,Google TV,AT@T U-Verse and so on in KC area that don't have them.

[Nelson R. 560]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/12/13/charter-offer-time-warner-cable/4013157/

 

Looks like Charter might win the bidding war!

 

Charter Arena and Charter News rolls off the tongue better than Time Warner Cable Arena and Time Warner Cable News.

[A3N 996]

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/12/13/charter-offer-time-warner-cable/4013157/

 

Looks like Charter might win the bidding war!

 

Charter Arena and Charter News rolls off the tongue better than Time Warner Cable Arena and Time Warner Cable News.

 

They still haven't submitted any formal bid for TWC. Even then, TWC can decide not sell or they can wait for another company to make a competitive bid. Either way, Charter is not going take TWC that easily, not while Comcast or Cox are around.

[LoadStar 363]

 

They still haven't submitted any formal bid for TWC. Even then, TWC can decide not sell or they can wait for another company to make a competitive bid. Either way, Charter is not going take TWC that easily, not while Comcast or Cox are around.

 

Comcast would have an almost impossible chance at purchasing the whole of TWC, if they even wanted it all, and I don't think they do. With at least one other company willing to purchase the entirety of TWC, I doubt that they'd even give much consideration to a pick-and-choose bid from Comcast, one that would still receive a ridiculous amount of regulatory scrutiny. Frankly, I don't give Comcast a snowball's chance.

 

Cox might be another candidate, but Charter has the initiative, and I think they have the liquid capital to make it happen. I think Cox will be on the outside looking in.

[SoCalLocal 7]

I think that Comcast or Cox would acquired Time Warner Cable not Charter.

 

If Comcast and Time Warner Cable merged it would cover all the major markets including New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. If the FCC giving any kind of concern like spinning off some of it markets to someone else for example if a small/major market is an Comcast or TWC area they would sell the cluster to another cable company like Cox or Charter and Comcast would takeover the major markets.

 

 

In Los Angeles I think Comcast may return in the LA Market because is an #2 market after New York and also they have properties in the area NBC O&O KNBC, Telemundo O&O KVEA, Universal Studios and NBCUniversal. if you combine it with 2 RSNs TWCSportsNet(Lakers) and SportsNetLA(Dodgers), It would become a stronger Comcast market after New York I guess.

 

Comcast was usually cover parts of Los Angeles/Orange County for 4 years after the merger with AT&T Broadband (Originally Comcast made a bid for MediaOne in 1999 and AT&T/TCI breakup the merger with Comcast and bought out MediaOne). TWC covers the South Bay and the San Fernando Valley before they takeover two thirds of LA County in 2006 since the Adelphia deal mostly Comcast and Adelphia areas in LA and parts of Hollywood and Charter covers parts of Riverside, Long Beach and most parts of West Covina.

 

It would be possible Comcast will return in Los Angeles if they acquire all or most of TWC or Cox takes over the area and I think it would do a system swap with Comcast or Cox in smaller markets if they make a joint bid just like the Adelphia deal.

 

For Charter the company was out of bankruptcy in 2009 and there not manageable. Now it part owned by Liberty Media charman and TCI Founder John Malone the that I am concerned that if they merge with TWC its debt would be twice for both cable companies.

 

I hope which way or another that it would be a Comcast/TWC merger,

Cox/TWC merger or an Charter/TWC merger it won't be a joint bid I hope.

[d247 43]

Bloomberg is reporting that Charter is offering to buy TWC for $61.3 billion.

[A3N 996]

 

Bloomberg is reporting that Charter is offering to buy TWC for $61.3 billion.

 

One of the most interesting parts of the article is at the bottom, which talks about Comcast still being in the picture...

 

Comcast is considering a bid for Time Warner Cable, either on its own or with Charter, people with knowledge of the matter have said. The largest U.S. cable operator may be interested in acquiring the New York market, some midwestern cable regions and Time Warner Cable’s regional sports networks, which broadcast L.A. Dodgers and L.A. Lakers games, Shahid Khan, co-founder and chairman of Mediamorph Inc., said in an interview.

A Charter deal for Time Warner Cable could be completed first, before Comcast obtains divested assets, according to Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathason LLC.

 

As a whole, Comcast wouldn't be able to swallow up TWC due to regulatory hurdles. But, several of these markets have a few things that make it very enticing for Comcast: 1. Sports/Sports Channels (i.e. SNY and Time Warner Cable Sportsnet/Sportsnet LA). 2. Large markets such as New York and Los Angeles. 3. Markets where they own an NBC O&O.

[CircleSeven 1944]

Reuters is stating that Comcast & Charter are in talks to acquire some of the TWC assets. In the article, Comcast is eyeing the big prize, the New York City market. Also other markets including parts of New England.

 

TWC rejected Charter's latest bid of $132.50 a share, feeling that it was too low, while Comcast wanted to make a standalone bid, but felt that the $160 per share price was aiming a bit too high.

 

I wished Comcast could aim a bit higher and get the whole Upstate New York and at least the Dallas chains, and let Charter get the rest. But likely a compromise would be for Charter to get the Upstate chain, since Comcast would end up already with a whole Megalopolis strip (from DC to Boston). I would love for Comcast to get Dallas market, since they're already in Houston. If Comcast is not interested in the LA market, then that's a true winner for Charter, since they have the most coverage already in that market.

 

I wished Comcast would divest its Atlanta cluster to Cox.

[Asomrjsurf 6]

I say TWCKC will become Comcast already in a Olathe/MO might have before and closer then Charter Warrensburg.

[Jess 1110]

Getting an NYC presence would be a no-brainer and huge for Comcast. New England as well since they already have a large presence there.

 

Nostalgia moment time for me.

 

I can remember when cable first entered Philadelphia. The city was divided up into four zones. Our zone was originally Rollins Cablevision, but by the time we got wired for cable it became Heritage Cablevision. So, our first converter boxes had Heritage Cablevision logos on the bottom of the units. If I remember right, it looked like this:

 

 

Heritage, however, didn't want to run a cable system in Philadelphia. Heritage's zone was located right next to the cable company that was given the zone for the far Northeast. That cable company was very interested.

 

I might have been four or five then, but I remember "Heritage" disappearing suddenly one day, and all of a sudden, everything started to display this weird word called "Comcast". What was a Comcast? Didn't help that they had this awful logo and weird jingle... "COMCAAAAAAAAST..... WATCH US NOW!"

 

Basically, Heritage sold out to Comcast, who decided to more or less combine the two zones. To this day, if you're looking for a channel lineup for 19111, one of the choices will be Comcast Philadelphia (Areas 3 and 4) - a leftover from when there were actually two companies. We basically had Comcast from the beginning, so we saw every stage of its evolution. (Although Comcast Areas 3/4 were the last to get everything - I didn't know why the tiny system in Wildwood, NJ had a Weather Channel that looked so awesome while ours looked like crap.)

 

In 1991, I think the Northeast office got a quantel and decided to go nuts with it. Thus, we have the "How to Order Pay-Per View" rap.

 

Yes. The How to Order Pay Per View rap.

 

[yt]xd_H_9ql-CQ[/yt]

 

If, in 1991, you thought this same company would not only be the biggest cable company in the US, but also own a major network and film studio and also have a huge skyscraper downtown (soon to be two)? I'd have questioned your sanity.

 

We moved in 2011 to new digs and we got an offer from FiOS that we couldn't pass up, so we switched. I never had a problem with Comcast, though. If you asked me whether you wanted cable TV or FiOS TV, I'd probably side with Comcast - they do have some stuff that FiOS doesn't. (If we're talking internet, though? FiOS by a mile.)

[sanewsguy 509]

 

FiOS however, has Hub Network in HD, plus the on-screen widgets. Also, I managed to figure out (thanks to your zipcode and Google Maps) that you work at the Acme at Red Lion Blvd., a 90's "fortress" model w/ Sav-On Pharmacy and Citizens Bank branch; it's also one of the three stores with an Acme Express gas station (it should be noted that the "Express" portion of the logo was taken from Jewel-Osco).

 

Gee, I think HulkieD's very happy you told everybody where he works...