Comcast and Time Warner announced that they intend to merge their respective cable companies into one large company. Said company would be Comcast, as Time Warner is being absorbed into the larger company, at a 45.2 billion dollar price point. Should the FCC approve it, the deal will most likely go through; Comcast projects the FCC’s decision will be made around the end of 2014.

  If the deal were to go through completely unregulated, the new Comcast would have a grand total of 33 million subscribers. While Comcast currently has the edge when it comes to subscriptions, this would rocket said margin tremendously. Due to regulatory measures, they have stated the will sell off three million subscribers to keep their market share of subscribers below the 30 percent threshold, and prevent the ramifications thereof.

  Recently, many states have come together with the U.S. Justice department to investigate the merger, and whether it breaks any antitrust laws. An antitrust law is a law that exists to prevent monopolies from being formed. Should it be declared illegal, the deal will fall through and Comcast and Time Warner will remain the 1st and 4th best cable companies respectively, as opposed to the one.

  Should the deal go through there are multiple consequences that could occur. The prices of cable subscription have been steadily increasing for many years, and its possible that the additional subscription base will give Comcast more leeway to increase the rate of growth exponentially. Additionally, they would have much more control over what is shown on television, and more importantly, what can be licensed out to services like Netflix or Hulu.

  Comcast’s decision to merge with Time Warner will change the television industry immensely, if it happens, and that is a big if. The strength it could give them would most definitely change how consumers receive their entertainment, although whether that is for good or ill cannot yet be determined.