Why the Charter–Time Warner Cable Merger is a Bad Deal

[Commentary] Had the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger had been approved, one company would have controlled more than half of the nation’s high-speed broadband market. If this latest merger is approved, two companies—Comcast and the new Charter entity—will control close to 90 percent of that market. This is a problem because these two companies will have both motive and opportunity to coordinate actions to stifle online video competition that threatens their traditional cable business.

Companies like Charter, Time Warner Cable and Comcast have controlled video distribution for decades, deciding what networks were available to consumers. But the Internet has put consumers in charge and the results are compelling. This means more content, more competition and more consumer control, none of which cable operators like. That’s why the Writers Guild of America, West is part of the Stop Mega Cable Coalition, which includes more than a dozen organizations that represent consumers, online video providers and broadband providers and are opposed to this merger. If this merger is not stopped we can expect a future that looks very much like the past, with the same cable gatekeepers controlling Internet-delivered video. Companies like Charter and Comcast can use the pricing of Internet service and proprietary set-top boxes to determine which online content is accessible and at what price to their customers; they can add data caps to make online video more expensive; or they can pick which video services can be watched through the company’s set-top box. To protect the new opportunities for talent and the breadth and depth of content the Internet now offers consumers, this merger must be stopped.

[David Young is the executive director and Ellen Stutzman is the senior director, research and public policy, Writers Guild of America, West]