New Streaming TV Services Could Weirdly Help Comcast

News that Dish’s new Sling online TV service had already attracted more than 100,000 subscribers (at least on a trial basis) would seemingly be a bad thing for Comcast and other cable companies, which have been fighting to stem the flow of cord-cutters. Weirdly, that’s not actually the case, at least for Comcast.

The cable giant needs all the competition it can get these days, as it tries to convince regulators to approve its $45 billion deal to acquire Time Warner Cable. Sling and other so-called over-the-top streaming TV services from Sony and Apple could be just what Comcast needs. Comcast’s main argument for why the deal should be approved is that it doesn’t compete with Time Warner Cable in any markets. That’s true, mostly because cable operators get franchises from local governments to offer service and that has kept cable companies from competing directly with each other. Streaming TV services like Sling or Sony’s new Vue service offer consumers tired of high cable bills a new source of competition (although they still have to buy high-speed Internet service -- most likely from their local cable operator).