Samantha 2876 Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Arizona has no Sinclair or Nexstar, and the Phoenix DMA has no Comcast or TWC*. Awesome. *They are in Arizona: Comcast has some Tucson systems that are small, while Time Warner Cable is the MVPD in Yuma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Several articles have indicated that there is no breakup fee. Thanks. I kinda expected this to be the case. This ends up being a low risk, high reward deal. For Comcast if it doesn't go through they are only out their time/effort invested into it. If it goes through they come out with some nice additions to the company. On TWC's side as stated if it doesn't go through they are left right where they are now except they have kept Malone at bay for awhile. If it goes through they still get "proper" value for their company versus the "lowball" offers from Malone & Charter. So, basically it's one of those things where the TWC heads & Comcast heads got together and both came to the conclusion "What the hell. It's worth a shot." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 718 Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 The articles say that no decisions have been made on which markets to divest. Charter's proposed joint deal to spin off systems to Comcast supposedly spun out New York and the Carolinas. Thinking and speculating out loud here, but since Charter was the buyer, they are going to want keep the best regions. Why would Charter spin out its two best regions and keep the crappy ones? I'm speculating that the New York/Northeast is their best division and Comcast was willing to pay a premium because of all the money generated and the sports networks and whatnot. I'm guessing they took the Carolinas because Charter wanted to keep the rest (Texas, Midwest, California and Oceanic) and, except for New York, they are the better divisions and that's what Charter chose to keep. So, that means the Carolinas might be the subscribers being spun off? Does this make sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I'm going to try to post another graphic. The merged entity is everywhere except Phoenix, St. Louis, Greenville, SC, Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, Birmingham and Norfolk. In those cases, it's either a market controlled by Charter (St. Louis, Greenville) or Cox (OKC, Las Vegas, Norfolk, and New Orleans). I always figured that Charter would get bought by TWC, they were in worst financial shape for the longest time before they declared bankruptcy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 In those cases, it's either a market controlled by Charter (St. Louis, Greenville) or Cox (OKC, Las Vegas, Norfolk, and New Orleans). I always figured that Charter would get bought by TWC, they were in worst financial shape for the longest time before they declared bankruptcy. Looking at the list, there are a few markets which could easily be spun off by Comcast (either from the purchase of TWC or systems they already own). Areas/markets such as: The Pacific Northwest, Salt Lake City/Utah area, Colorado, and Kansas City. These are areas that are separated from other Comcast systems/properties. It would also be the ideal time for COX to come in and gobble these areas up. I'm curious to see if COX tries to make a run at getting the Atlanta market from Comcast. Also on a side note, here in San Diego County, our largest cable providers are TWC and COX. With KNSD's impending move from Downtown, they move from a COX service area to TWC/ future Comcast service area. A map of TWC and Comcast service areas: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/the-comcast-time-warner-deal-by-the-numbers/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 718 Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Looking at the list, there are a few markets which could easily be spun off by Comcast (either from the purchase of TWC or systems they already own). Areas/markets such as: The Pacific Northwest, Salt Lake City/Utah area, Colorado, and Kansas City. These are areas that are separated from other Comcast systems/properties. It would also be the ideal time for COX to come in and gobble these areas up. I'm curious to see if COX tries to make a run at getting the Atlanta market from Comcast. Also on a side note, here in San Diego County, our largest cable providers are TWC and COX. With KNSD's impending move from Downtown, they move from a COX service area to TWC/ future Comcast service area. A map of TWC and Comcast service areas: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/the-comcast-time-warner-deal-by-the-numbers/ Mistake: Time Warner owns Oceanic Time Warner in Hawaii. They also didn't include the Bright House systems. I presume they will still provide them with support. They have a pretty nice footprint east of the Mississippi. I guess you have to keep Texas and California. I would almost agree with you about the Pacific Northwest except that Seattle is kind of a tech hub. Plus, its a colder climate ... my theory is that this means more TV Viewers. I say spin off candidates are downstate Illinois, Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapolis, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arizona and New Mexico and work their way to 3 million by doing that. Hard to believe they would part with some of those markets, though. Remember, this is partially going to allow them to provide advertising on a national scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asomrjsurf 6 Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Orlando has BHN and so does Tampa Bay. South Florida has Comcast not Tampa Bay. Surewestkc is only available in Johnson county in KC area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Mistake: Time Warner owns Oceanic Time Warner in Hawaii. They also didn't include the Bright House systems. I presume they will still provide them with support. They have a pretty nice footprint east of the Mississippi. I guess you have to keep Texas and California. I would almost agree with you about the Pacific Northwest except that Seattle is kind of a tech hub. Plus, its a colder climate ... my theory is that this means more TV Viewers. I say spin off candidates are downstate Illinois, Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapolis, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arizona and New Mexico and work their way to 3 million by doing that. Hard to believe they would part with some of those markets, though. Remember, this is partially going to allow them to provide advertising on a national scale. Good points. Looking over some info on the Pacific NW and it looks like Comcast has a regional sports network that is the tv home of the Portland Trailblazers, so they may not want to ditch that region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2876 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Good points. Looking over some info on the Pacific NW and it looks like Comcast has a regional sports network that is the tv home of the Portland Trailblazers, so they may not want to ditch that region. I think it has major carriage traction issues, or at least it did at the outset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 718 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Orlando has BHN and so does Tampa Bay. South Florida has Comcast not Tampa Bay. Surewestkc is only available in Johnson county in KC area. Indianapolis has Bright House too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewsMaster 226 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Indianapolis has Bright House too. So do some Detroit suburbs (Livonia, Redford, Novi, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoadStar 363 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 If this does go through (and I doubt it will) and they need to divest markets, I kind of think one might be Wisconsin (both NE Wisc. and SE Wisc. regions). Wisconsin is a mid-tier market, one I doubt would be of huge value to Comcast. It's one that I think Charter would love to get, as it would mesh well with their control of much of the rest of Wisconsin. Plus, both Time Warner and Charter use Scientific Atlanta/Cisco equipment in this area (at least, I know TWC does; not positive about Charter, though) which would make merging the markets, technology wise, relatively easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1675 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 I honestly don't have any issue with it. I never had any trouble with Comcast - there are rarely any outages here in Baltimore. The only trouble I had was getting a new cable card for my TiVo after a lightning struck came in over coax and fried 5 cable boxes. They took the boxes back and replaced them no questions asked. I emailed a customer service manager for the area and a technician was out the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha 2876 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 I'd expect divestiture of Yuma or (especially) Tucson to Cox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToriElectra 291 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 We actually live down the street from an Xfinity guy, so it was helpful when lightning struck our driveway, and messed up our cable so anytime we tuned to an HD local it was all blocky and stuff. He was able to install this power booster thing that cured it. It only took him 5 min. to get here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyHarry 718 Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 If this does go through (and I doubt it will) and they need to divest markets, I kind of think one might be Wisconsin (both NE Wisc. and SE Wisc. regions). Wisconsin is a mid-tier market, one I doubt would be of huge value to Comcast. It's one that I think Charter would love to get, as it would mesh well with their control of much of the rest of Wisconsin. Plus, both Time Warner and Charter use Scientific Atlanta/Cisco equipment in this area (at least, I know TWC does; not positive about Charter, though) which would make merging the markets, technology wise, relatively easy. Again, I think this is going to depend on their philosophy when it comes to these systems. If they want to concentrate on big markets like network O&O TV stations, then you are indeed correct. However, if they like Time Warner's strategy of mass, TWC's Wisconsin and Ohio systems fit in nicely with Comcast's systems in Chicago, Indiana and Detroit. From an advertising standpoint maybe you win with the large markets, but if you look at cable as more of a utility it seems that having clusters of wires together is more efficient maybe? I think cold weather (no outside activities; nothing better to do) and I agree with you guys that sports crazy areas are where it's at. If that's the criteria, you definitely want to keep the presence around the Great Lakes. Fans of Great Lakes teams are just as rabid and loyal as fans in larger markets. Just check out the ratings of Ohio State bowl games in Cleveland, Youngstown and Dayton if you need proof of that. I think Texas, New York and the Southeastern United States (SEC Country) also qualifies as sports-rabid parts of the country. Sports nuts and even those who aren't so rabid will pay for cable to see their favorite team. That's why I have cable, and I am far from being a sports nut. Advertisers love sports because you can't blow through commercials like you can on your DVR. As more sports migrate to cable, this might be very relevant to consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoseRM303 169 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Good points. Looking over some info on the Pacific NW and it looks like Comcast has a regional sports network that is the tv home of the Portland Trailblazers, so they may not want to ditch that region. The Pacific NW won't be getting the spin off cheap stuff especially since the Seattle/Everett area just recently received the X1 platform cable boxes within the last 6 months. Why would they launch something and then give the Pacific NW the cheap end of the deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 737 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 The Pacific NW won't be getting the spin off cheap stuff especially since the Seattle/Everett area just recently received the X1 platform cable boxes within the last 6 months. Why would they launch something and then give the Pacific NW the cheap end of the deal. I have a feeling that they're going to focus on the larger markets and sell off the smaller markets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 The Pacific NW won't be getting the spin off cheap stuff especially since the Seattle/Everett area just recently received the X1 platform cable boxes within the last 6 months. Why would they launch something and then give the Pacific NW the cheap end of the deal. Equipment has little to no bearing in whether or not Comcast will spin off a particular area. They may or may not spin off the Pacific NW cluster, and if they don't, it won't be because they rolled out new cable boxes in the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoseRM303 169 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Equipment has little to no bearing in whether or not Comcast will spin off a particular area. They may or may not spin off the Pacific NW cluster, and if they don't, it won't be because they rolled out new cable boxes in the area. I doubt they will spin off the Pacific NW stuff for the smaller guys as Comcast is pretty large in the pacific NW. I can see the smaller areas being spun off like hillbilly cities but not larger cities like Seattle, Everett, Tacoma, Redmond etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoseRM303 169 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I have a feeling that they're going to focus on the larger markets and sell off the smaller markets. That's my feeling too large markets that already have comcast will remain comcast, large twc markets will become comcast and the smaller markets will be spun off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I doubt they will spin off the Pacific NW stuff for the smaller guys as Comcast is pretty large in the pacific NW. I can see the smaller areas being spun off like hillbilly cities but not larger cities like Seattle, Everett, Tacoma, Redmond etc. Well after I posted my comment, I realized that Comcast had a CSN in the Northwest and it was pointed out earlier in the thread that the Seattle/Tacoma market is an attractive area for tech companies. Point is, there is some investment in the area with the sports network and the market size could be reason enough to keep it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven 1944 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Let the legal fight begin. Bloomberg states today that shareholders of TWC have filed a suit in front of the NY State Supreme Court to block the Comcast acquisition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3N 996 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Let the legal fight begin. Bloomberg states today that shareholders of TWC have filed a suit in front of the NY State Supreme Court to block the Comcast acquisition. Seems a bit ridiculous to be honest. One of the complaints in the suit is that the takeover of TWC by Comcast would face tough regulatory scrutiny, and that there wouldn't have been that same scrutiny with Charter. That being said, had Charter won with its bid, then they would be complaining (and probably suing) that the bid was too low. I am not sure what this guy is trying to accomplish in the first place. Is it that he doesn't want Comcast to take over TWC and instead wants Charter to take over? I don't want to sound like i'm defending Comcast, but some of the quotes from the plaintiff's attorneys are mind boggling... “Since rumors first leaked in mid-2013 about several companies interested in acquiring Time Warner, it has been reported that Time Warner failed to engage in good faith negotiations,” Barrett said in the complaint. The sales process was “woefully deficient” and the bid failed to take into account the company’s “positive momentum going forward,” the lawyers said. Comcast's bid was almost $20 more per share that what Charter had bid, and while as a shareholder he's trying to get the most money out of the deal possible, no other company was able to match the offer- yet. However, TWC all along had been telling potential suitors that they would only entertain offers if they were around the $160 per share range. So that naturally eliminated several suitors who thought that price was too high. Considering the alternatives, either TWC accepted Comcasts bid, or a hostile takeover by Charter at a lower price per share. And I don't want to get started on the "positive momentum going forward" part because that is so beyond ridiculous- I'm curious to know if he deems losing customers at an alarming pace "positive momentum going forward." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Former Member 207 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 TheStreet.com has an interesting article about the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, specifically mentioning that the combined operator (should it pass the regulatory concerns and approval) could offer Netflix on its set-top boxes in the future (maybe Hulu and Amazon Instant Video as well). Although stranger things have happened, I just kinda find it a far-fetched that Netflix would essentially join forces with Comcast-TWC, as many look at Netflix as the alternate to cable/satellite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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