Does Comcast Own Washington?

Well, the initial verdicts on the Comcast-Time Warner merger proposal are in, and they are largely negative? The Consumers Union: “This has the potential to be a very bad deal for consumers.” The Financial Times: “Too often, the Federal Communications Commission has let itself be bought off…This time it should steel itself to say no.” Michael Copps, former member of the F.C.C.: “This is so over-the-top it ought to be dead on arrival at the F.C.C.”

With big cable companies already hugely unpopular, someone unfamiliar with Washington might assume that the merger has no chance of being approved. But that would be an error. Comcast is an extremely well-connected company, and it is going up against a set of politicians and regulators who are compromised by their prior dealings with the company, or other big players in the cable industry.

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