Comcast-Time Warner Deal, In a major setback for the proposed merger between Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (TWC), Federal Communications Commission staff are recommending that the $45.2 billion deal be sent to an administrative hearing, The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday.
The FCC staff is proposing to issue a "hearing designation order" that puts the cable companies' merger in the hands of an administrative judge, according to people familiar with the situation.
The hearing would more than likely be a protracted process that regulatory experts say could effectively kill the deal.
Bloomberg News reported that FCC officials are leaning toward concluding the merger doesn't help consumers, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Comcast executives, who met Wednesday with the FCC and Justice Department officials in separate meetings, came out with the impression that the deal was in trouble, according to Bloomberg.
The companies must convince the government that the combined company won't hold too much control over the marketplace.
The combined company would control about 40% of the U.S. market for broadband Internet. The market share could be higher under the new definition of broadband issued by the FCC.
Comcast has stated earlier that the merger would yield "significant consumer benefits" without "any reduction of competition."
But others disagree. "If the news from the FCC is true, it would mean that Internet users can breathe a sigh of relief. Designating the deal for a hearing would make Comcast and Time Warner Cable go through a lengthy evidentiary procedure," said Matt Wood, policy director for Free Press, an awareness group that opposes the deal.
"That's a very high hurdle to clear in its own right, and a huge barrier to overcome for a disastrous deal like this one, which has no real public interest benefits to show," he said in a statement.
The hearing would more than likely be a protracted process that regulatory experts say could effectively kill the deal.
Bloomberg News reported that FCC officials are leaning toward concluding the merger doesn't help consumers, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Comcast executives, who met Wednesday with the FCC and Justice Department officials in separate meetings, came out with the impression that the deal was in trouble, according to Bloomberg.
The companies must convince the government that the combined company won't hold too much control over the marketplace.
The combined company would control about 40% of the U.S. market for broadband Internet. The market share could be higher under the new definition of broadband issued by the FCC.
Comcast has stated earlier that the merger would yield "significant consumer benefits" without "any reduction of competition."
But others disagree. "If the news from the FCC is true, it would mean that Internet users can breathe a sigh of relief. Designating the deal for a hearing would make Comcast and Time Warner Cable go through a lengthy evidentiary procedure," said Matt Wood, policy director for Free Press, an awareness group that opposes the deal.
"That's a very high hurdle to clear in its own right, and a huge barrier to overcome for a disastrous deal like this one, which has no real public interest benefits to show," he said in a statement.
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