Washington Responds to Comcast Announcement

After Comcast announced it would no longer pursue its acquisition of Time Warner Cable, Washington responded:

“This is a huge victory for consumers. If Comcast had bought Time Warner Cable, it would have been able to stop new kinds of innovative video services dead in their tracks. Instead, the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice have decided to allow competition to work. New online video services shouldn’t have to ask Comcast for permission to reach viewers or access content. The efforts by the FCC and DoJ in reviewing this deal set a new high bar for the Obama administration in antitrust and public interest review, said John Bergmayer, Senior Staff attorney at Public Knowledge. “Had this deal gone through, Comcast would have become an industry giant with more than 50% of the nation’s broadband connections, dominant in most key media markets. It’s clear that the DoJ and the FCC agreed with the hundreds of thousands of members of the public, consumer groups, trade unions, and private companies that told them there was no way this deal should go forward.”

Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron said, "This proposed merger was bad news from the beginning. Giving one company control over so much of America's communications is neither pro-consumer nor pro-competition. Everybody knows that. Comcast finally got the message that people can't be fooled into thinking that this merger would benefit cable customers and Internet users in any way. Comcast's failed bid to control Time Warner Cable should be a lesson for the industry. Communications giants should stop trying to create local monopolies and instead focus on competing to provide the fast, affordable and neutral Internet services that so many Americans demand. That's what people say that they want and need. And we're especially grateful to the more than a million Americans who urged regulators in Washington to reject this deal. Credit also goes to those at the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission who have listened to the public and are seriously working to increase competition and lower the costs of access. The demise of this merger, alongside the Net Neutrality victory from earlier this year, mark the rise of Internet users as a powerful political constituency that can no longer be ignored by elected officials and policymakers."

“As we saw in February when the FCC adopted strong rules to protect the free flow of information online, citizen voices can still make a difference in our government’s decision making. More than 800,000 Americans told the FCC that the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger would be bad for competition and innovation; their arguments were well-founded and have now carried the day. This is their victory,” said Common Cause President Miles Rapoport.

Former FCC Chairman Michael Copps, now a special advisor to Common Cause's Media and Democracy Reform Initiative, said, “Comcast's withdrawal of its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable would be spectacularly good news for consumers concerned about the spiraling cost of cable and broadband and for millions of citizens who want nothing more to do with gatekeeping and consolidation in the communications ecosystem on which our democracy depends."

“This mega merger was a sweet deal for Comcast but a poor one for consumers that would have hurt competition and stifled innovation,” said Ellen Bloom, senior director of federal policy for Consumers Union. “Comcast would have profited handsomely, while consumers ended up paying more and facing fewer choices."

“Today’s announcement is a major victory for consumers and the future of communications in the U.S.,” said Benton Foundation Director of Policy Amina Fazlullah. “With high-capacity broadband growing in importance each day, more and more consumers are realizing that putting 50 percent of the broadband market into Comcast’s control would result in too much power in the hands of one company. Hopefully, moving forward, Comcast and Time Warner will take the path of competition over consolidation and consumers will benefit with more choices, better services, lower prices, and increased innovation.”

“If the media reports are accurate, today is a tremendous victory for consumers, innovators, and the future of the Internet," said Joshua Stager, policy counsel for New America’s Open Technology Institute. "This merger would have given Comcast the power to stifle small businesses, raise consumer prices, and undermine the Internet economy. Americans don’t need a gatekeeper who decides who wins and losses on the Internet — they need affordable, fast broadband and a competitive market. That’s why nearly 1 million Americans, a record-breaking number, have asked the FCC to block this deal."

"The collapse of this dangerous merger would be a giant victory for Latinos, and renew faith in US regulators," said Presente. "[W]e will continue to monitor the situation and strongly oppose the merger until the official withdrawal happens."

“Since the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger was announced 14 months ago, the WGAW has maintained that it should not be approved because of the irreparable harm it would cause to competition, consumers and content creators," said Writers Guild of America, West President Chris Keyser. "In recent weeks it became clear that regulators had similar concerns. We share with our allied organizations the satisfaction of knowing that this merger has been stopped and that both the public interest and writers’ interests have been protected.”

“Artists of all backgrounds welcome the news that Comcast is abandoning its plan to control even more of our nation's communications infrastructure,” said Future of Music Coalition CEO Casey Rae. “Musicians and independent labels understand what happens when gatekeepers control access to audiences and are allowed to set the economic terms for our participation. We were here at the start of this fight and we’ll remain vigilant to ensure that our creativity has a chance to thrive wherever audiences connect.”

“Families and consumers have won this battle. If Comcast and TWC had merged, it would have created a giant with enormous control over nearly half of all TV sets in the country -- and that union would have inevitably been anti-family and anti-consumer," said Parents Television Council President Tim Winter. "We are glad that the opposition to this merger was so strong and fierce."

“Although the Federal Communications Commission no longer needs to review Comcast’s attempt to supersize itself by acquiring Time Warner Cable, the agency’s work is far from done," said American Cable Association President Matt Polka. "The FCC should acknowledge now that the Comcast-NBCU merger conditions it put in place in 2011 have been ineffective at addressing the harms stemming from the troubling combination of Comcast’s cable assets with NBCU’s content. To protect distributors and consumers from the harms posed by vertical integration, the FCC needs to act on its long-pending program access and retransmission reform rulemakings and adopt ACA’s proposed solutions.”

“Today’s news is the best possible outcome for consumers, who deserve innovative, thriving video and broadband marketplaces," said Jeff Blum, senior VP and deputy general counsel of Dish.

"The decision today reflects the clear consensus among consumers, competitors and policymakers not to Comcast the Internet," said Don't Comcast the Internet, a coalition of competitive video providers including COMPTEL, the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance and NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association.

"Today is a huge victory for consumers and competition. COMPTEL commends the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission for their work on this merger, and we urge them to release their analyses so that all interested parties and the public will fully benefit from the year-long review of the merger," said COMPTEL in its own statement.