Rep Cárdenas: I Oppose the Comcast-Time Warner Merger

Rep Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) became one of the first members of the US House of Representatives to publicly oppose the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger. Rep Cárdenas called on the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission to block the merger from occurring, saying, “I have been open to hearing from both sides of this issue and have been assessing the impact on public interest and competition...Today I announce my strong opposition to the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger. I ask the [Federal Communications Commission], the [US Department of Justice], and the California Public Utilities Commission to deny this merger because it is bad for consumers, will harm competition, will lead to less diverse content and more expensive cable and Internet access, and will eliminate good jobs in California.”

Rep Cárdenas went on to cite issues with potential mistreatment of independent programming providers, issues with vertical integration between Comcast and its various television stations, the immense broadband footprint a Comcast-Time Warner merger would create and the impact a potential merger, and all of the other issues with it, could have on jobs in the Los Angeles area.