Charter Communications Inc. is buying Time Warner Cable Inc. for $55.3 billion and Bright House Networks for $10.4 billion. It is the latest in a series of deals that have reshaped the cable industry.
Q: WHAT IS DRIVING THE DEALS IN THE CABLE INDUSTRY?
A: Cable companies are bulking up to survive as the number of cable and satellite TV subscribers slips — more consumers are "cutting the cord" — and competition from streaming video rises, thanks to rivals such as Netflix Inc. They also must fight TV channels over the cost of programming.
Q: WHAT HAS ALREADY CHANGED?
A: Verizon's FiOS TV service is trying smaller, customizable TV bundles. HBO has launched an online version of its content, HBO Now, that doesn't require a cable TV subscription.
Q. WILL CHARTER SUCCEED WHERE COMCAST FAILED?
A. Consumer advocates fiercely opposed Comcast Corp.'s $45 billion takeover bid for Time Warner Cable, which would have married the nation's two biggest cable providers with a media powerhouse, Comcast's NBCUniversal. Regulators worried that the combination would be too dominant in high-speed Internet service and might undermine the streaming-video industry that is changing TV viewing.
Charter's tie-up with Time Warner Cable and Bright House still isn't as big as Comcast by itself. And it doesn't own a big entertainment company like NBCUniversal.
Q. WHAT OTHER DEALS ARE OUT THERE?
A. France's Altice S.A., which was reportedly also interested in Time Warner Cable, last week bought a controlling stake in Suddenlink Communications. And AT&T, long synonymous with phones but now a provider of TV and Internet service too, is paying $48.5 billion for satellite TV company DirecTV, which competes with the cable guys.
