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Comments on news posted 2014-03-03 09:52:40: Comcast has quite a chore ahead of it in order to gain regulatory approval, given concerns about vertical integration, overall reach and concentrated market power when it comes to content licensing. ..

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gatorkram
Need for Speed
Premium Member
join:2002-07-22
Winterville, NC

gatorkram

Premium Member

Close but not quite..

I don't think the idea of a new company and a spinoff is quite the right idea.

I'd like to see the customers go to existing companies already in the area.

For example, here where I am in NC, I have Suddenlink, but I know some other places in the State have TWC.

In this case, I'd like to see Suddenlink pick up those customers and areas.

The same could happen other places I am sure.

No idea if SL would even be interested in such a deal, or if others would as well.

dnoyeB
Ferrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI

1 recommendation

dnoyeB

Member

The idea is completely ridiculous. What would be the point of merging two companies to immediately divide back into two companies? The only point could be that one of the companies get all the good assets while the other gets the excrement.

There is no logical reason a merger/division could make any sense.

Eagles1221
join:2009-04-29
Vincentown, NJ

Eagles1221

Member

This is BS

The surely do compete. I don't care so much about the ISP side but Comcast owns NBC and Hulu and Time Warner owns WB and a chunk of ABC. Cable companies love to point the finger at contect companies for higher costs...well, less competition in content companies.....am I the only one seeing this?

FureverFurry
RIP Daphne: 3/12/05 - 6/19/12
Premium Member
join:2012-02-20
49xxx

FureverFurry to dnoyeB

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to dnoyeB

Re: Close but not quite..

Tax benefits, maybe ? Something like "washing" losses through another company?
jarred
join:2014-02-27
Amelia, OH

jarred

Member

Great Idea! NOT

Oh yeah this sounds wonderful. I am sure my area would be the one dumped into obscurity which will just make a bad situation worse.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

1 recommendation

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Re: This is BS

said by Eagles1221:

Time Warner owns WB and a chunk of ABC.

Didn't Time Warner split off Time Warner Cable awhile back. So Time Warner still exists - not being bought out by Comcast - with Warner Brothers, ABC, and other content. Time Warner Cable - with phone, Internet, and cable TV service offerings - is a completely different company.

notahater
@209.117.47.x

notahater

Anon

I want to stay on Comcast!!

Regardless of any personal views on big companies, market power, etc, Comcast has been a solid broadband provider with speeds and quality and with the X1 box, their video service is really innovative..

I for one do not want to be "divested". Keep me on Comcast
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks

Member

TWC doesn't cap their broadband connections, if that sort of thing matters to you.
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

Happydude32 to TechyDad

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to TechyDad

Re: This is BS

It's been five years since Time Warner Cable split from Time Warner Inc and I still can't believe people don't get it. And Time Warner never had any involvement in ABC.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Sell them to Mediacom

When AT&T broadband was winding down, not all of their assets went to Comcast. They had the systems in Iowa and Massachusetts but Iowa went to Mediacom and Massachusetts went to Comcast.

Maybe the more rural systems will go to the new company. I'd want Maine to go to Comcast as I may end up with property (possible inheritance) up there and I'd want to keep my E-mail addresses. I'd still use DirecTV for TV though but the line of sight is touchy (as determined by my DishPointer App). I got good view of the 99/101/103 but the 110 and 119 are iffy. I'd just use a SL3 dish and hit the 99/101/103 birds.

I'd rather have grandma though. Property and E-mail addresses are secondary.

Zenit_IIfx
The system is the solution
Premium Member
join:2012-05-07
Purcellville, VA
·Comcast XFINITY

Zenit_IIfx

Premium Member

ooh I have a name for this company

Comcast, name the new company Adelphia!

:P

ofc Comcast will probably keep a lot of the actual ex-Adelphia footprint. Cant see them selling off the ex-Adelphia cable systems in Virginia.

Personally, I would rather see Comcast spin off their NBC assets. Comcast owning a major media producer is dangerous.

fg8578
join:2009-04-26
San Antonio, TX

fg8578 to gatorkram

Member

to gatorkram

Re: Close but not quite..

Spinning off customers to an existing company could only be done where a second cable company exists in the same footprint as Comcast or TWC.

Given the high cost of overbuilding, the likelihood of finding such a company is pretty small. It would be easier to spin off the customers to a new company.
fg8578

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Re: This is BS

Never let the facts get in the way of a good rant!

vdiv
Premium Member
join:2002-03-23
Reston, VA

vdiv to Zenit_IIfx

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to Zenit_IIfx

Re: ooh I have a name for this company

Adelphia would have been funny if it was not tragic. The concessions that Comcast will make will be negligible relatively to what they get, even if they sound sizable. 3-million low-profit margin customers that would require "significant" capital expenditures to update are a liability to them. I think that they may in fact drop the VA and MD systems as FiOS is killing them here and Comcast have not shown any interest in competing (maybe too close to the regulators, creates suspicions). Cox may be interested in taking these over.

With the Comcast's takeover of TWC being a foregone conclusion the question becomes what will be their next step. Would they go and gobble up another content producer, a software company, or even a telco? Viacom? TWE? Back to Disney? Microsoft (the original X-box)? Sprint? AT&T?

Place your bets!

Anoonoo
@comcast.net

Anoonoo

Anon

Bright House

I wonder how this will impact Bright House...

Bright House isn't part of TWC but they share a lot of the same stuff. Same boxes (just different logos) and if I recall correct they share contracts for TV offerings (probably to get better deals on negotiations etc.)

That said, spinning into a new company would be dumb and make it pointless for the merger.
The simple fact is no merger should be approved with any company. Too little competition exists already. It's sad really because over seas not really a whole lot of competition neither but they also get faster for 1/4 our cost. Here we have to try to use competition to not get butt rape but yet to get around it they all just merge.

I think in the states too many greedy people get involved is all. No problems with a business making money but you don't need 1000's of people making millions that do nothing.
dfxmatt
join:2007-08-21
Crystal Lake, IL

dfxmatt to gatorkram

Member

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Re: Close but not quite..

It's certainly not going to create competition, that is certain. They did this with AT&T in the Ma Bell thing and it simply created more problems, not less.

Titus
Mr Gradenko
join:2004-06-26

Titus to Zenit_IIfx

Member

to Zenit_IIfx

Re: ooh I have a name for this company

The difference between Adelphia and Comcast is Adelphia sort of knew they sucked, whereas Comcast has created an entirely new level of suck that is as yet undefined in scope of sheer suckage.

xcomcastemp
@mybrighthouse.com

xcomcastemp

Anon

Give the customers to other ISPs

Give the customers to Brighthouse, they do heavy business with TWC.

n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY

n2jtx

Member

Funny Idea

Actually the idea of spinning off some the customers into a separate company is kind of funny since it would probably be about two years before Comcast takes over that company and gets a tax write off in the process. Beautiful!

Zenit_IIfx
The system is the solution
Premium Member
join:2012-05-07
Purcellville, VA
·Comcast XFINITY

Zenit_IIfx to vdiv

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Re: ooh I have a name for this company

I dont know...it may seem like FIOS is winning (where FIOS is available). In Loudoun County Verizon did a half-assed FIOS deployment only covering very urban areas pretty much abandoning anyone not in the extremely dense Rt. 7 corridor next from the Fairfax/Sterling border into the town limits of Leesburg. After that, no FIOS. The county is poking and prodding to get VZ to build out in the west...its happening at a turtles pace.

Fredrick County (VA) is pretty much 100% (where the cable exists) Comcast, there's like 4 subdivisions with FIOS...miniscule, pretty much only where VZ had no copper and they built new houses.
Clarke County is 100% Comcast yet again(where Cable exists) too...VZ has DSL in Berryville and that's it.

Also, the Comcast iBone runs through Ashburn, into the headend and out heading north. I doubt they want to re-route their east coast backbone due to selling a local cable system.

Its unfortunate that there is such little choice due to VZs leadership change (Wireline guy to Wireless) killing infrastructure investment.
Zenit_IIfx

Zenit_IIfx to Titus

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to Titus
As for the Adelphia/Comcast suckage...well no doubting they both suck(ed).

Adelphias suck was how bad the internet service was...horrible. The On-Demand on TV never worked. Plus the wonderful corporate accounting scandal. Comcasts suck is their customer service/billing...

I will take the screwed up billing over cable internet that went down every week and suffered from congestion. Adelphia was the reason we went with 3mbit VZ DSL...the DSL was consistent, the Adelphia cable wasnt.
Comcast at least fixed that.

Just think..the #2 (TW) and #1 (CC) worst-rated cable companies are merging! Imagine the wonderful customer service! :P

Conversations with Support/Billing will look like this more:
"Hi, there is an error on my bill. Can you help?"
"Did you try unplugging and plugging it back in?"
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25

Member

Spin it all off

How about they spin off the ISP side, Content side and the Cable side into different companies being Comcast is walking a very fine line with those already.

It was silly they even let them buy the content side when they are already major owners of the cable side. Now being that content is going the way of ISP's as well, they should have to separate that as well (as should all of them).

Mr Guy
@charter.com

Mr Guy to Crookshanks

Anon

to Crookshanks

Re: I want to stay on Comcast!!

To the vast majority that used under 300 GB it doesn't.

jap
Premium Member
join:2003-08-10
038xx

jap to Skippy25

Premium Member

to Skippy25

Re: Spin it all off

said by Skippy25:

How about they spin off the ISP side, Content side and the Cable side into different companies being Comcast is walking a very fine line with those already.

Like those entirely independent, non-collaborative companies Verizon & Verizon Wireless?

How about Comcast just doesn't buy TWC?
waycoolphil
join:2000-09-22
Cathedral City, CA

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to TechyDad

Re: This is BS

Disney owns ABC.

JimMcCoy
join:2011-08-20
Midlothian, VA

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Yes, you are the only one.

One more time: Time Warner and Time Warner CABLE are two different entities. One does not have any fiscal tie to the other.
waycoolphil
join:2000-09-22
Cathedral City, CA

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Re: Spin it all off

If Comcast does buy TWC I'm thinking about moving.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

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to waycoolphil

Re: This is BS

You're right. I got so caught up in fact checking "TWC owns WB" that I let "Time Warner owns ABC" fall through the cracks!
superpc
join:2012-07-12
Gloucester, VA

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Member

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Re: ooh I have a name for this company

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't mind Comcast just selling those systems off to Cox..
etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
united state

etaadmin to notahater

Member

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Re: I want to stay on Comcast!!

Same feeling... I wouldn't mind trading usage CAPS for faster internet speeds and better TV hardware.

If for some reason I get 'divested' that will limit my options and reduce not increase competition. I would have to cancel and go to satellite TV.

Customer service for me is a non issue unless I want do dual date or have a pen pal. I don't care if customer service read scripts or don't speak good English all I want is a service with fast internet speeds and good TV hardware.
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