Read the Article linked below:
Comcast and Time Warner
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/02/13/276367927/comcast-confirms-deal-to-buy-time-warner-for-45-billion
Discuss with the class members your opinion on this acquisition. You must incorporate facts/information from what you have learned in class about the Progressive Movement. I expect you to add one original post and one response to another classmate or two responses to your classmates. 10 hw pts.
Please comment here
ReplyDeleteComcast and Time Warner Cable should not combine. If both companies combine then the price will drastically increase. Customers will not be happy with this decision because it will cause the smaller companies to go out of business. It is important to not let this happen because when small businesses are pushed out by big companies, the big companies can charge whatever they want. Teddy Roosevelt was against big trusts for this very reason. Time Warner Cable and Comcast are already successful enough. The last thing we need is them taking over the cable industry.
DeleteComcast and Time Warner Cable should not be allowed to combine. The combination of both of these major companies would mean an extreme increase in prices. This will greatly upset their current customers and other companies will start to lose out as they start to gain even bigger bucks. Looking back at the progressive movement in history would show us all the problems that allowing this would also cause. Teddy Roosevelt spent much of his presidency trying to get rid of big business trusts. The government should not allow this. Businesses that have lots of money have lots of power. Comcast's prices are already high enough, they don't need to be higher.
ReplyDeleteI agree Comcast and Time Warner Cable should not be allowed to combine because it will be creating a monopoly and will allow them to raise prices at will. Also it will drive other providers out of business which in the end will give customers no choice but to go with Comcast. It is also a bad idea and the government should not allow it because it violates the antitrust act. Overall this is a very controversial topic.
DeleteI completely agree that the merge between Comcast and Time Warner should not be allowed. This huge merger would cause too much concentrated power in the industry. With too much centralized power, comes the abuse of power. The abuse of power is not fair to the workers who may face low wages or to the consumers who may face high prices. This monopoly has more negative effects than positive.
DeleteI agree with you Ashley if companies prices are already extremely high they shouldn't be able to find a way to make the price even more unreasonable than it already was. As well as the whole point to the Anti-trusts were to stop businesses from doing things like this, so to return to acts like this would be a turn for the worse.
DeleteI agree with all of you guys too. Combining Comcast and Time Warner together as one is a bad idea. It will cause prices to skyrocket, leaving many costumers unsatisfied with the business. It will create a monopoly allowing no other companies to run, so not only are people be paying more, many other companies would go out of business.
DeleteI agree. Combining Comcast and Time Warner cable together will increase prices and cause a monopoly. In addition, I agree that Comcast's prices are already high enough. The anti-trusts were set in place for a reason and we have already seen the negative outcome that trusts cause.
DeleteLike everyone else, I agree with you Ashley. Raising the already-high prices would be despicable. I also agree with your input on how Teddy Roosevelt tried to get rid of the big company trusts too. If one of our greatest presidents tried so hard to get rid of all these trusts, why would we think it’s okay to support them when they’re actually destroying other businesses. Comcast and Time Warner Cable should definitely not merge. This will save the consumers and the other businesses.
DeleteComcast and Time Warner combining is a terrible idea. This will only end up bad due to the fact that with the new larger company, it will be much easier to raise their prices and only make it more of a hassle for customers to pay their bills. If these two companies combine this is wiping out a chunk of their competition which means customers almost have no choice but to pay their higher prices. If this goes any further it could turn into a sort of monopoly to the point where the only way we can get cable is by paying unreasonable amounts of money because no other companies will be in business. If we have learned anything from the standard oil issue this deal will not go through. The standard oil company had unfair business methods and outraged the public which is just what combining these two companies will lead to. All in all, combining Comcast and Time Warner is a terrible idea.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Bethany. Comcast and Time Warner should not combined due to the fact that it would be such a large company and would hurt the costumers. Costumers' bills will go up and it will be harder to pay. Also this busimess will wipe out all competition and a monopoly will form. Comcast and Standard Oil will become very similiar because they both will or have wiped out other businesses.
DeleteI agree, Bethany, Comcast and Time Warner Cable should not merge. This is because they would become the biggest cable company and would make their prices higher and harder to pay. Since entertainment has become so popular people can't just stop watching TV so they'll be forced to pay these higher prices and it hurt many consumers. This will be the start of a monopoly and start to wipe out all of their competition.
DeleteI agree with Bethany. We have learned the proposed threats of monopolies in class and the uncomfortable position they put on their customers. While Comcast believes that the merge will increase their number of costumers, I think that they would soon drop because of the high prices. This is undoubtedly a bad idea because the article has even stated that in recent news, AT&T tried to take control of T-mobile and was rejected by The Justice Department and the FCC. Judging from this it is not in the right place for consumers of the cable companies to do this merge, and the past cell phone company ordeal is just another red flag.
DeleteCombining Time Warner Cable and Comcast is a bad idea for many reasons but mainly because it is creating a sort of monopoly. Combining them will mean combining two of the biggest cable providers. If the deal goes through Comcast will have 30 million customers and will be able to raise prices at will. The customers won’t have a choice but to stick with them because Comcast offers the best and latest technology. This is a textbook definition of a monopoly and we can’t let it happen because during the progressive era Teddy Roosevelt and his followers (Bull Moose Party) fought to break apart trusts and keep them from controlling the economy. By allowing Comcast to merge with TWC will be creating a trust and that is bad.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Comcast and Time Warner Cable should not be allowed to merge. I think it's going to create a monopoly which will lead to higher prices for paying customers. This will be a repeat of what used to happen back during the Progressives, but this time we won't have T.R to get rid of it. Comcast will end up serving a large amount of American cable users alone, not allowing any other business to step in and make profit. Overall, this will only be benefitting those apart of big business, not the common paying customers like us.
DeleteThe combination of Comcast and Time Warner Cable is a bad idea. These are two of the four biggest cable providers and the joining of the two of them will create a monopoly. This monopoly will allow Comcast to raise the cost of their services by a lot of money because these two companies combined means less competition, and considering the fact Comcast provides the latest television technology the majority of their customers will stay with them no matter how much the price is raised. This same tactic was used by companies such as Standard Oil and Carnegie Steel during the progressive era. Politicians such as Roosevelt fought to break apart these trusts because of how unfair and terrible they were, and the combining of Comcast and Time Warner Cable will end up being just as unfair and terrible as the monopolies were back then.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Justin, this merge should not happen at all, this can totally hurt the customers. No one wants to pay a lot of money just to watch TV. I think that you are right when you said that this could be like what happened before with the Standard Oil and Carnegie Steel during the progressive era. This can turn into a monopoly if this happened especially because these two companies are one of the biggest cable companies right now. I really think that the federal government should stop this just like Roosevelt did because it could cause a big problem.
DeleteCombing Comcast and Time Warner Cable is not a good idea. If these two large companies come together it could create a monopoly. This merger will be a disaster and make bills higher for paying customers. Since no other cable company will stand a chance against this merge, customers will be forced to pay their high prices. Other companies will go out of business and people will be forced to pay high amounts of cash for cable that they could’ve avoided if this merge didn’t happen. If this deal goes through Comcast will serve 30 million TV households for cable alone. This won’t allow any other cable company to provide their service therefore driving them out of business. All in all, combining these companies is not in the public’s interest and should not be done. This type of thing happened during the progressives but Teddy Roosevelt formed the Bull Moose Party, and did not allow trusts to take over the economy. I think it’s in America’s best interest not to let trusts and monopolies dominate us now.
ReplyDeleteI agree the companies combining is a very bad idea, and it could create a monopoly. I don't think it's fair for the costumers to have to pay higher prices just because of the merge. Comcast will have to big of a market, and put other companies out of business. That's a good point that this happened in the progressives. What Teddy Roosevelt did to stop monopolies is what the federal government needs to do.
DeleteI agree completely Jamie. You made a really good point about the publics best interest. The two companies combining would just be unfair for America. Creating a monopoly will inevitably lead to angry customers. The only thing that saved us from our last monopoly crisis was Teddy Roosevelt and we don't have him here today so I think its clear that the two companies combining would be a nightmare.
DeleteI completely agree with you Jamie, that it's not in our nation's best interest to allow monopolies to dominate us now. So many people (if fact, almost every family, I would imagine) have at least one television in their home, and the majority probably have some sort of cable provider. A deal like the one Comcast and Time Warner are proposing could have a major negative effect on the average American citizen. Prices for cable television would go up, and that's money that many lower or middle-class families don't have. Indeed it isn't in America's best interest to allow this soon-to-be monopoly dominate us now.
DeleteComcast and Time Warner Cable combining is a very bad idea, that will really hurt the costumers. If they do combine, they would arguably be the best company there is, with many technological advances. That is great, however, by taking over a big portion of the market, they can raise their prices as high as they want. Eventually, other companies won't be able to keep up with them and could potentially go out of business. As their company has progressed over the years, their prices have been rising. With this merge, we would have to pay ridiculous amounts for their service to the point where it is practically a monopoly. It is horizontal integration, which will give them to much power and would be an economical disaster.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Comcast should not be combining with Time Warmer Cable because it is a bad idea because it will lead to a monopoly and they can set prices and make the costumers pay higher prices and it is not fair because they could wipe their competition out. Also i agree that over time their prices will rise.
DeleteI agree with the fact that the companies combining is a bad idea. It will do nothing but create problems. Once customers get unhappy with the prices they are paying, it all goes downhill from there. Just like when President Roosevelt had to step in during the progressives too make a stop to large industries that formed monopolies.
DeleteI agree with the fact that even though there will be many advances in technology and although this is good, there is a major downside because the merge will beat other companies and businesses until there is only one left to raise price all they want. I agree that even though there may be a few positives in the matter, the fact is that the benefits are weighed out by the problem that this is a potential monopoly which would through off the economy and consumers everywhere will have no choice but to pay these high prices.
DeleteI agree with you Josh. I think it would be bad for everyone if the two companies were to combine. The advances in technology would good, but they would make the price so high that a lot of people wouldnt be able to afford it.
DeleteCombining companies like Comcast and Time Warner’s Cable is an awful idea. It would create more problems and the customers will be paying. Customer’s monthly bills will go up creating havoc and anger. With these two companies combining it will wipe out other cable, internet, and phone companies to a point where horizontal integration will occur. This is very similar to what happened during the Progressive Era. Big corporate businesses are going to wipe out smaller business, making a monopoly. This is not a good decision and the customers’ wallets are going to pay. This puts smaller cable businesses at risk as well as jobs. The government should step in and make the right decision in this situation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Allyson, the two companies merging would be very bad. The government wouldn't even let the number one and number four ranked cell phone companies combine in fear of a monopoly. Combining the two biggest cable providers would give them so much power. With all this power, as Allyson said they would be able to wipe out all other companies by lowering the price just like Rockefeller did with standard oil. With all these other companies going out of business many people would loose their jobs. Once they have effectively wiped out smaller businesses the price of their services will increase causing the customers to loose money to this fast growing monopoly.
DeleteI completely agree. By merging these two companies a lot of problems will be created for the costumers. As Ally claimed before, if these two companies come together, the competition will be wiped out leading to a monopoly. Comcast and Time Warner will upset a lot of people with this merge. If worst came to worst some might even go on strike about having to pay higher prices for cable. All in all, it would save costumers time, money, and aggravation if these two companies do not merge.
DeleteI agree Allyson. When two of the top cable companies merge, there will be major conflicts that affect the consumers. Comcast buyers won’t be able to have a say in whether or not they have to pay more and that can cause an uproar. Businesses that only care about growing their monopoly don’t take into consideration how their consumers will disadvantage. They will be paying a noticeably larger amount of money and for what? A little bit faster wi-fi? I know a lot more people that would rather pay less money and wait a couple extra seconds for their webpage to load than pay the new prices.
DeleteThe merge of these two large cable companies, although a great development for the companies will cause drastic problems. When theses companies come together they will have a great deal of finances and therefore too much economic power. With this exuberant amount of power, inevitably a Monopoly will occur. The consumers will in result, have to pay high prices for services they once received for much less. As well as consumers having to pay high prices, the workers will in a sense be “forced” to work for low wages, as there are very few other opportunities left for them in this industry. This merge is detrimental to all the people involved.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Bethaney because if these companies gained to much economic power a monopoly would be a serious problem.
DeleteI believe that the FTC should not allow Comcast and Time Warner to combine. It would be a terrible idea. These are both two major companies and combining them will be unfortunate for consumers. These two companies combining will make the prices rise exponentially. This would also mean less opportunity for companies to compete. For example, J.P. Morgan was basically the first bank. So financial help could only really be from there. In this situation there was no competition and the citizens didn't necessarily have a choice in the matter. J.P. Morgan was really the only one that profited while he gave back to the community out of their money, immigrants were however helped the least. In reality the merger of these two companies would have a serious affect the consumers and with the prices increasing the popularity of these companies would most likely decline greatly.
ReplyDeleteComcast and Time Warner cable companies should definitely not combine. Having all the power in one place always creates problems. The companies should continue to stay split. It will benefit the customers and will create good competition between the two. With the two combined, it will do nothing but create a monopoly leaving the customers with no choice but to stay with a company who can do with their prices as they wish. People do not like to pay high amounts of money for things they could be getting for less and this will create multiple problems. This issue can relate to the Standard Oil monopoly occurrence when Standard Oil controlled all of the oil and had to be split up because of the power being too concentrated in one place.
ReplyDeleteComcast and Time Warner Cable combining is a very bad idea, that will really hurt the costumers because by them combine Comcast will have to set prices high. Which will lead to monopolies, a monopoly is when a company owns all or most of the competition and can set prices. Mostly all the time prices will be high and that will make the costumers buy it. Eventually, other companies won't be able to keep up with them and could potentially go out of business. As well as consumers having to pay high prices and the workers will be “forced” to work for less amount of money. Over all Comcast should not combine with Time Warmer
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Soham. I feel this is an awful merger and it will lead to a huge monopoly, which as everyone knows is the last thing America needs right now.
DeleteI agree with you Soham. If Comcast and Time Warner Cable were to combine, the prices would definitely increase; Leaving unhappy costumers and businesses unable to compete with the increased prices.
DeleteI agree with you Soham, if these two companies merge, prices will definitely go up, especially after they eliminate all the competition. This will make a lot of people upset, but since all the other companies will have gone out of business, so people will be stuck with the high prices.
DeleteI strongly feel that the merger between Comcast and Time Warner would be an awful combination and a huge blow to the general public. First of all, the merger of these two would be like a merger of Carnegie and Rockefeller, in other words, a recipe for a collapse. Also, the merger would cause a huge spike or drop in the stock market, also a recipe for disaster. Finally, this merger will kill a lot of jobs from Time Warner’s Company. This truly is a bad idea at its core, the people it is profiting is Comcast and its stockholders. In Craig Aaron’s words, “this deal would be a disaster and it must be stopped.”
ReplyDeleteI agree. Because of this possible merge between the two companies, this would cause a spike or drop in the stock market because of the job loss from the other businesses that may not be able to keep up with the higher prices.
DeleteTime Warner and Comcast combining will not turn out well. People already complain about prices for cable being too much and imagine if they do combine! A new monopoly will be created which means prices will rise. Remember in the progressive era, how Teddy Roosevelt worked so hard to break up large monopolies? Well, we would just be taking steps backwards in society. By having the two companies combine, nothing good will come out of it.
ReplyDeleteErica I absolutely agree with your opinion, it's like you are an expert on the subject. I have heard my family and friends complain about Cable prices, and if the two were to combine, it would be complete mayhem. You are certainly right about T.R., as he worked nonstop to remove monopolies from existence and he succeeded! There is no way merging these companies can be helpful. Thank you for your insight.
DeleteI completely agree with Erica. If we already have faced this problem, why would be back track? Having these two companies come together as one is just a set up for disaster. The prices would be crazy and it would cause many problems.
DeleteI agree with you Erica, we need to focus on the consumers mostly, money is already tight for most people and this could only make things worse. There is no use in taking steps back. There are reasons that monopolies were removed and I always believe that we should stick with what works and not make things even more difficult.
DeleteI completely agree Hazel! By combining these two major companies, a monopoly will be created. A monopoly means no competition. No competition leads to higher prices. People already complain enough about prices for cable. We don't need anymore complaining. And exactly! During the Progressive Era, Roosevelt took his time and used it to break up large monopolies and by having Comcast and Time Warner combine, we will just be taking step backwards!
ReplyDeleteCombining these two companies would not be beneficial to the public. The combination of the two would start to create a monopoly which would not be very good for anyone other than the very few profiting. Comcast said "The transaction also will generate significant cost savings and other efficiencies." but as we have seen in history large companies with this much power only want large profits. The companies combined would hold too much power, they would be able to rise prices and drive others out of business. They should not be allowed to merge.
ReplyDeleteComcast should not be allowed to buy and merge with Time Warner Cable for several reasons. Basically it will be the start of a modern day monopoly. It’s the number one cable company buying out the number two cable company which takes out the biggest competition and makes them a lot bigger. Since they own most of their product they will be able to raise prices whenever they want and how much they want with little competition to change that. This will in turn anger and hurt the wallets of their consumers but they can’t turn to another company because they will be too big and other companies prices will have to be the same. This has been seen before in the Progressive movement in the early 1900’s. An example was John D. Rockefeller. He co-founded the Standard Oil Company and used his grown company to pretty much buy out basically everyone else in the industry. Since he owned most or all of the industry he raised prices and it hurt his consumers. To stop and regulate companies like these Roosevelt fought these big trusts. Now we have these Federal anti-trust lawyers trying to do the same.
ReplyDeleteI firmly agree with what you are saying. Having the number one cable company buying the number two cable company would start a modern monopoly that would inflate prices. Making it bad for the customers.
DeleteTime Warner and Comcast combining is an extremely bad idea.This will only create a monopoly and cause prices to shoot through the roof. The Anti Trust legislation was created for a reason, setting an example. We as Americans should learn from what our history. Obviously the anti trust legislation was created to keep things like this from happening all over again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ty. It would be a very bad idea to merge the two companies. Other companies would go out of business, therefore the prices for the merged companies would skyrocket. We should not repeat history by creating a monopoly. These companies should not merge.
DeleteI firmly believe that the merging of Comcast and Time Warner Cable would be a terrible combination and would cost a lot of Americans a lot of money. The merger would be a disaster. If Comcast were to buy Time Warner, they would hold a monopoly on the cable industry. Comcast holding a monopoly on the cable would lead to very high prices for customers. With cable prices already being high, people would not be able to afford the high prices. By having two companies combined, bad things would happen.
ReplyDeleteI can see where you are coming from Tyler and you make very good points, but I disagree with you. People have to freedom to chose which cable provider they want to use. People throughout this blog have yet to consider Rockefeller's oil company was the only choice, and he used the railroads as an unfair advantage to eliminate his company. Comcast is not trying to use vertical or horizontal integration, they are simply trying to expand.
DeleteAs many have said before, the combining of Comcast and Time Warner Cable would definitely be a poor decision. What would be a current day monopoly, Comcast would control the entire department of television and television accessories. This would be generally bad for Americans, despite the owners of Comcast, which could essentially raise prices from already high to unreasonably high since there would be no competition to go against. A new idea that I do not think anyone has brought up is that the company could supply low quality goods without the chance of losing customers. The combination of these companies would surely be good for their business, but as for the average American the monopoly would be hurtful.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Jake, by combining the two most popular cable companies we are left with no other choice, leaving the power in the company to do whatever they want. A little competition is good for businesses and provides us with good quality and the option to choose. This monopoly would just create more problems in the economy. Separating monopolies can not really harm us so lets keep things how they are.
DeleteComcast and Time Warner should not merge as one company. It could be very detrimental to many customers and other companies. These two major companies will gain a lot of power. Therefore it may cause a monopoly to occur. If a monopoly was to occur then other companies may go out of business. Then Comcast and Warner Cable can raise the prices dramatically. With other companies out of business the customer can’t do anything about it but just pay the required price. History will be repeating itself. Therefore Comcast and Time Warner should not merge.
ReplyDeleteHey Erica, I agree with what you’re saying. Combining these two huge companies will cause a monopoly in the industry. There will be no fair competition for other companies if these two combine. They will have complete control over the prices and potentially over the whole cable industry. I agree with you completely!
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ReplyDeleteTime Warner cable could be brought out by Comcast, it is a fact every person has their price, therefore I support this idea. Although, it could cause a monopoly the government shouldn't step in until something goes wrong. Maybe Comcast prices go up, but it is not like Comcast is the only TV, phone, and internet company. As of now they have done nothing wrong; it is people own money too you do not need to spend it on something you are not happy with. This is just one move, just like when Facebook brought Instagram. Just because they got another social media site doesn't mean they will control twitter, or any other social media sites. Most people may disagree with this theory, but monopoly comes from the person in charge, not how much power they have. There could be one cable company service, but still have good service and affordable prices. Our country should not push the idea of power as such a bad thing, as long as the people do not abuse it.
ReplyDeleteScrolling through the comments, I was waiting to see if someone would go against what everyone else is saying and if they would then proceed to say that Time Warner Cable and Comcast combining isn’t a terrible idea. I understand that there are several upsides to the two companies combining; among those advantages are improved service and technological innovations. Colin also makes a good point that it isn’t the merger that could be bad for our society; it is the people in power and those people abusing their power. It is also true that they haven’t done anything wrong yet, but no one wants to wait until something bad happens to stop and fix it. We want to prevent the problem from occurring in the first place. That is what the FTC is trying to do. There is the other problem that all of the advantages have the words “potential” or “possible” in front of them, which worries people. They want certainty and stability, just as people in the past wanted. The unpredictable outcome of these two companies combining can cause a lot of panic, and people don’t want that. Combining the companies is not in the best interest of the public and could cause major panic, along with price increases due to a monopoly.
DeleteHey Aly! You made really good points and I agree with all of them. If they combine these two cable, internet and phone companies combine, it will cause a lot of chaos among people. The prices will shoot up and there won’t be any other companies in competition with this huge company. A monopoly will be created just like it did during the progressive era and this is exactly what Teddy Roosevelt fought to get rid of.
ReplyDeleteAllowing the Comcast cable company and the Time Warner cable company to combine is not a good idea. These are the two largest cable companies in the market, and if they were to be put together, they would most likely dominate the market. Sure, there may be improved services and “technological innovations”. But such a merger would cause prices to skyrocket from the highpoint they’re already at. The enormous amount of customers each cable company has would have to pay more and more, since there would not be much competition from other big companies. With such a large corporation, it could become a monopoly, gradually buying other smaller cable companies out until there was no competition. I do hope that the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission look at this affair carefully, since they may be able to break up such a deal if it were to happen. This would be similar to what once happened with the John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil company, which had become a horizontally-integrated monopoly. Eventually, the trust had to be broken up by Teddy Roosevelt and his Anti-Trust Legislation. Let’s hope that such an action can take place before the merging of Time Warner and Comcast becomes harmful to their consumers and competitors.
ReplyDeleteI agree with exactly what Maria said. If Comcast is permited to merge with Time Warner Cable, it will turn into the start of a horizontal monopoly for Comcast. If this merger is allowed, we will soon be calling it the Cable trust because there wouldn't really be any individual companies anymore. But to be perfectly honest, I can not see the FTC allowing the merger of the top two Cable companies, especially since they didn't allow the second and fourth top phone companies to merge.last year. The combination of these two companies is nonetheless a horrible idea because of the most likely increase to prices for consumers and a monopoly in the Cable business. Hopefully, it will be stopped before it gets as big as Standard Oil was at its peak because otherwise the FTC would have to go to the trouble of breaking the monopoly up into many smaller companies.
DeleteMaria, you made some really good points. I like how you made the connection between this merger and monopolies that John D. Rockefeller made with his Standard Oil Company. The article explains how "new and improved" their company would be after the merge, however, the expenses are far more concerning than "faster in-home Wifi". The Comcast company quickly adds at the end of their statement that this would generate significant cost savings yet gives no reasoning or backing up as to how that could be. We have to consider our past even when making decisions today. We've been educated on the corruption that monopolies lead to, such as the Standard Oil Company crisis, like you mentioned, and Northern Securities, the railroad monopoly that Roosevelt eventually broke up. We must not be ignorant to the poor results this merge may cause.
DeleteIf Comcast and Time Warner Cable merge, this could be a very big problem for all of us and this cannot happen at all. This merge is unacceptable because this could turn into a monopoly just like it happened during the progressive era with the Standard Oil and Carnegie Steel companies. If a monopoly happens, all of the other cable businesses can wipe out and Comcast will be the only one left. That means that Comcast would have to supply all of us with cable and that means that they can make us pay more than we have to because there will be no other competitor. This is a very bad idea and it could hurt all of us.
ReplyDeleteIf Comcast Cable Company and Time Warner Cable were to merge together, this would from a major problem for the economy and other businesses in the cable profession. With two large companies like these combining would only turn into a monopoly like combination. If these two businesses were to merge together other companies in the field of cable and television will be pushed aside and out of business and that would only leave one huge company with the power to raise prices as high as they want and basically control the cable aspect of American life which could cause great economic and society unrest. These are the kinds of businesses that America has fought against in the past and we’ve learned from our countries past that these companies have the potential of turning into monopolies and monopolies have hurt our way of life in the past and we cannot have this hurt our future as well.
ReplyDeleteThis reminded me of Standard Oil and how by merging with the railroads other companies fell due to lack of power and stability. I agree that if they were to work together and become one that other businesses would drastically decrease and it would be very difficult for other businesses to compete. The result would lead to a monopoly and the influence of media will be centered and most likely biased based on the views of one corporation.
DeleteConsidering Americas past with big businesses and Monopolies I strongly believe that Comcast should not be able to buy out Time Warner. Media is one of the biggest revenues for the economy and merging such influential corporations would lead to disaster. Seeing how the majority of the population relies on media for information and entertainment you can’t have one source controlled by one company, it just wouldn’t be accurate or trustworthy. For a research paper just because you read somewhere that something is true doesn’t mean that it is. You need multiple sources to check and by merging these companies almost all of media will be controlled by one big business and will eventually end in corruption and abuse. Also, just because it seems harmless now doesn’t mean it will stay harmless. All it takes is time and greed. (just an opinion based on previous accounts in history and socioeconomic trends)
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