In Cable Deal, Charter Seeks National Heft

[Commentary] It was only 15 months ago that Charter Communications looked like a big loser in the race to add heft in the cable and broadband industry. Comcast, a rival, had swooped in with an audacious $45 billion bid for Time Warner Cable, appearing to end the prolonged takeover battle that Charter had been waging for the cable operator. How different things look now.

Charter and its main backer, the billionaire media mogul John C. Malone, are on the verge of buying Time Warner Cable for about $55 billion, or roughly $195 a share in cash and stock, in a move that would help fulfill Charter’s long-held strategy to become a legitimate national player in the industry. The deal -- along with what appears to be an imminent acquisition of another cable operator, Bright House Networks -- would make Charter the nation’s second-largest cable television operator, behind Comcast, and would give it more clout in negotiations with television groups over soaring programming costs. It’s a significant turn of events for a company that looked like it had been beaten to punch then had to wait and wonder whether the Comcast deal would go through.