Charter, Netflix, and the new TV bundle

[Commentary] Charter buying Time Warner Cable looks like a done deal. But what about the other main opponent to Comcast buying out TWC? Netflix has nothing to say about America's latest big cable merger. In short  -- yeah, Charter’s broadband kind of stinks, as does Time Warner’s. Comcast’s is better. But Charter is (and arguably has always been) more open to partnering up with Netflix than competing with it outright, or using its control of the pipes to play hardball. At times, Comcast seemed like it was prepared to do both of those things, which is why Netflix and others were so anxious about it getting even bigger. Let’s assume that Charter’s gesture towards Netflix partnerships and skinny bundles and its acquisition of TWC aren’t an either/or, i.e., that Charter won’t take its expanded subscriber base and say “just kidding!” Maybe that’s a big assumption, but I don’t think so  -- even though Charter wasn’t talking publicly about acquiring TWC, they knew this was a possible and even a likely outcome.

If Netflix and Charter can strike a deal, Netflix isn’t going to say anything negative about a Charter/TWC merger. They’ll have gotten what they wanted, or something close to it. And Charter will have too. And customers? Well, a more tailored and varied bundle that makes it easier to watch any and all video content in the same place is what people say they want, so… we’ll wait and see what Disney and the other content folks have to say about it and what price they can strike. Everything is negotiable.

[Tim Carmody is a writer and editor for The Message]