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US: HBO and CNN concerned about The Time Warner Cable-Charter merger

By  |  March 8, 2016

Time Warner Inc. began HBO’s streaming video service last year, letting consumers watch “Game of Thrones” or comedian John Oliver over the Internet without a cable-TV subscription.

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    Now the entertainment programmer wants to make sure online video competition isn’t squelched if its former cable unit is purchased by Charter Communications Inc.

    Time Warner said in filings with US regulators vetting the deal that statements from Charter officials raised concerns that the company will try to harm streaming video if the merger with Time Warner Cable Inc., which is no longer part of Time Warner, is approved.

    The Federal Communications Commission should “take as much time as is necessary to investigate these concerns,” Time Warner Inc. said in a March 3 filing.

    Charter pushed back with a blog post, saying that online video “is great for our business” because it increases the value of the company’s broadband offering.

    “There is friction between the Internet community that wants more ways to expand contact with consumers, versus cable providers who want to keep everything within their own ecosystem,” said Gene Kimmelman, president of the policy group Public Knowledge and a former federal antitrust official. He said online video is “going to be a focal point” as the merger review continues.

    Full content: Consumerist

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