Healthier Time Warner Cable Emerges From Quashed Deal With Far More Options

Time Warner Cable was bloodied and bruised when it agreed to its now-scuttled $45 billion sale to Comcast. The company was hemorrhaging subscribers after a battle over fees with CBS produced a month-long blackout of the network on its service. Its executives had been sharply criticized for deploying a failed plan for the past half-decade during an ugly war with Charter Communications, which had been pursuing a hostile takeover. And its customer service ratings were at the bottom of the industry.

Now, Time Warner Cable is in a stronger position, giving the company greater control over its destiny. There is no doubt that Time Warner Cable is suffering from whiplash after the sudden implosion of the Comcast deal that had been over a year in the making. But it has steadily improved its business since the deal was announced in February of 2014, and analysts forecast continued progress. Meanwhile, Time Warner Cable, the country’s second-largest cable operator, after Comcast, can pursue an acquisition of its own, which gives the company more leverage in negotiations with potential suitors.