The Time Warner/Comcast Merger
I was going to write a post discussing how the Comcast-TimeWarner deal that we all know is anticompetitive and monopolistic is likely to go through anyway, but there is so much to write about there’s no way I could make it a succinct post.
For example, there are countless articles stating why Congress should reject the deal (I agree), but they’re more idealistic than legal. Some are more pragmatic in explaining why it’s likely to – and even should – happen no matter what.
And then there is article after article after article talking about the effect it will have on Netflix. The VAST majority of opinions are against the deal, but it appears there is no practical legal grounds on which to reject it. Netflix, for its part, is already planning on raising prices, in part because of their increase in subscribers and demand for original content, but also because they believe that *their* prices will rise as a result.
As you all know, I personally am very against this merger in every possible way. Did no one learn anything from the AOL-Time-Warner merger from yesteryear? Luckily we use Cox, but I just discovered that I have a data cap on my Internet service! So me and the cable company soon are going to have a talk. Be careful out there.
If you want to see something really scary, look at the infographic below. It shows the impact of media consolidation. It’s a huge graphic, so you’ll want to save it, open it in an image viewer, and zoom way in. But be prepared for what it says.