Comcast reportedly abandons bid to buy Time Warner after federal block

Comcast plans to drop its $45 billion offer to buy Time Warner Cable in the face of opposition from U.S. regulators, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The cable operator could announce its decision on the merger as soon as Friday, Bloomberg said. The proposed deal would have combined the nation's two largest cable companies. The move drew criticism from open Internet advocates, who charged the merger would have reduced the choices consumers have for access to the Web. The two companies serve about half the broadband Internet customers in the United States. 

The news came a day after Comcast and Time Warner Cable officials met with reviewers from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Justice Department. The two telecommunications companies combined would have provided both Internet and cable TV.

Sources told Reuters that the FCC reviewers told staff at the agency in a briefing on Wednesday that they planned to recommend taking the merger issue to an administrative law judge for a hearing. This action would amount to the FCC trying to block the deal.

Comcast and Time Warner Cable representatives declined to comment on any plans to drop the merger. 

The decision comes in spite of $17 million Comcast had spent on pushing the deal, in advertisements and on its 128 lobbyists who pushed for approval, The Washington Post reports. 

Last week, Bloomberg reported that attorneys at the Justice Department's antitrust division were nearing a recommendation to sue to block the merger, citing concerns for consumers.

"If reports of the collapse of the deal are true, it would be a huge victory for American consumers,” said U.S. Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota and a vocal opponent of the merger.

"This transaction would create a telecom behemoth that would lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and even worse service. We need more competition in this space, not less," Franken said in a statement.

Charter Communications Inc. had lost out to Comcast in a bid to acquire Time Warner Cable.

A Charter spokesman had no comment on the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal or what Charter plans to do next. However, Charter's controlling shareholder, Liberty Media Corp., has indicated continuing interest.

At an investor day last November, when asked if he would pursue Time Warner Cable if the Comcast bid fell through, Liberty Media Chairman John Malone said "Hell yes."

Al Jazeera and Reuters