Tying up the cable business

When does “big” become “too big”?

Regulators in Washington (DC) will have to decide. In February Comcast announced a $45 billion bid for Time Warner Cable, America’s second-largest cable company. The deal would give more might to a firm that, besides the largest pay-TV and internet business in America has, thanks to its 2011 takeover of NBCUniversal, broadcast networks, cable channels, a film studio and other media assets. Most crucially, it would cede to Comcast more control over America’s high-speed internet, a buoyant business that is set to be the future conduit of content delivery, but one in which Comcast already faces less competition than in pay-TV. Comcast says it will invest more in broadband infrastructure and provide more low-cost internet access to the poor, but it is far from clear that the public will benefit from Kabletown (as Comcast was called in “30 Rock”, an NBC comedy about life inside NBC) turning into Kablecountry. The way this giant deal is progressing reveals a lot about corporate America.