Mergers The Federal Commerce Commission conditionally approved AT&T's acquisition of cable company MediaOne. The Department of Justice's Anti-trust division conducted it's own separate anti-trust merger review and proposed a consent decree with AT&T which requires the merged firm to divest it's interest in the cable broadband ISP Road Runner and to obtain Department of Justice approval before entering certain types of broadband arrangements with Time Warner and America Online. This merger is in compliance with the Federal Commerce Commission 30% horizontal ownership rule. This rule prohibits a single cable company from serving more than thirty percent of the nations multi-channel video programming distribution. Subscribers who are served by primarily cable television and direct TV. Without this rule the merger would have served 41.8% of the nations subscribers. A separate statement was issued by the Federal Commerce Commission's Chairman William Kennard. He stated, " Within six months after closing its merger with MediaOne, AT&T must take an irrevocable election among three divestiture options in order to reduce their horizontal subscribers to 30%." These are the three choices: 1. Divest their interest in Time Warner Entertainment. 2. Insulate their ownership interests in Time Warner Entertainment by ending involvement in Time Warner Entertainment video programming activities, which entails selling AT&T 's programming interests. 3. Divest their interests in other cable systems serving approximately 11.8% of cable and satellite subscribers nationwide, 9.7 million subscribers which is more than half of AT&T's current subscribers. For the consumer the merger will mean a real choice and lower price in local phone servi... ... middle of paper ... ...much larger market. The European Commission examines cases from three sources: notification of an agreement from interested parties, complaints from third parties, and by it's own investigation and initiative. In 1998, 404 cases came before the EC; 65% of the cases were notifications, 26% came from complaints, and the remaining 9% were brought under the Commission's own initiative. As in U.S. anti-trust law, complaints brought by third parties ranged from instances of small companies seeking protection to large companies seeking to bog down competitors in the unproductive labor of dealing with bureaucratic investigations. IF the EU after investigation decides to take action, it can either (1) issue a recommendation to an infringing company, or (2) initiate formal proceedings. Sources: http://www.antitrust.org http://www.techlawjournal.com
In this essay, the author
- Explains that at&t's acquisition of mediaone was approved by the federal commerce commission and the department of justice. the merger is in compliance with the 30% horizontal ownership rule.
- Explains that at&t must take an irrevocable election among three divestiture options in order to reduce their horizontal subscribers to 30%.
- Opines that the merger will mean a real choice and lower price in local phone service, faster internet access, and better cable tv. consumer groups have opposed it, arguing that it will result in too much concentration on broadband internet services.
- Explains that united states law looks at possible anti-trust effects as a result of mergers. a merger may diminish competition by reducing the number of firms selling in the relevant market.
- Opines that the primary goal of completion policy in the eu is not to protect competition, but to integrate the european community.
- Explains that the european commission examines cases from three sources: notification of an agreement, complaints from third parties, and by its own investigation and initiative.
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- The Merger Between Comcast and TWCanalytical essayA) According to the article:’ Time Warner Cable to Merge with Comcast Corporation to Create a World-Class Technology and Media Company”, Time Warner Cable and Comcast came to a friendly agreement in which the board of directors approved the stock-for-stock transaction where Comcast will acquire 100% of Time Warner’s cable shares outstanding. This acquisition will be both beneficial for Comcast’s consumers and their shareholders where this merger will create a technological innovating company with ground breaking products and services. This acquisition will be accretive to Comcast’s free cash flow and yield many synergies for both companies. As Robert D. Marcus, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable said, "This combination creates a company that delivers maximum value for our shareholders, enormous opportunities for our employees and a superior experience for our customers". Through this merger, many consumers and businesses will benefit from the new company with cutting-edge products that will broaden the technological platform in the media. Not only this merger will reduce competition, but also will add to Comcast the 11 million TWC subscribers, which will be totaled in around 30 million subscribers and will expand to Comcast’s geographic footprint in the media platform.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how comcast's deal with time warner cable contributes to its negotiating power with the content companies. it will have subscribers for the first time in los angeles and new york city, which could leverage to nbc universal brand.
- Opines that shareholders will approve the merger at the end of 2014, but could be rejected by the federal communications commission (fcc), considering the size of the market share they are getting from the deal.
- Explains that time warner cable and comcast came to a friendly agreement in which the board of directors approved the stock-for-stock transaction.
- Opines that the merger between comcast and twc would create a mega-empire in an industry that is already dominated by big companies.
- Argues that the merger between comcast and time warner cable is more likely to benefit the company, not the consumers.
708 wordsRead More - In review of the models I believe the 7-S Framework would best describe the change management model used for Comcast and Kmart. The 7-S framework is based on 7 categories:
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the 7-s framework would best describe the change management model used for comcast and kmart.
- Analyzes how management responds to their environment when there is a call to act.
- Explains that the merger created a precedent for how the fcc would handle vertical acquisitions moving forward.
- Explains that comcast sought out to be a content provider and nbc owned 26 network and local stations, which they would now own. they wanted to combine media and technology.
- Explains that comcast and nbc are decentralized organizations, allowing lower management to make decisions that could affect the overall goal of the company and the change.
- Explains that comcast created more rewards and recognition incentives to gain employee involvement with the merger.
- Analyzes how brian roberts re-emphasized the need to have a work-life balance. the change brought interest in universal studios.
- Explains that both comcast and nbc have a huge employee force. a re-commitment to excellence and quality was enforced in town halls, meetings and trainings.
- Explains that roberts wanted the company to focus on customer service especially with the conversations of the merger. comcast strives to create "world class experiences that people love and trust."
- Explains that kmart and sears wanted to reach other markets without creating a market for it, by merging with the company.
- Explains kmart's decision to decentralize the locations, allowing regional management to act in regards to their own stores, creating competition, which in turn would improve performance.
- Explains that kmart sought to gain more it efficiencies by improving their systems and improving sears' it systems. the change brought on a redesigned website that was more customer friendly and appealing.
- Explains that eddie lampert, ceo of kmart led by making decisions that would benefit the customer. he liked to hire people that had no retail experience so he could mold them.
- Opines that lampert wanted to make sure he had the right people for the job, and re-enforcing this to all employees was essential.
- Opines that training and awareness of both companies was essential to prepare employees for the merger.
- Explains that comcast and nbc are not in the same market, no overlap so no need for major layoffs.
- Opines that kmart doesn't have a lot of stores that would need to transition, since many stores closed before the merger.
- Opines that the comcast and nbc acquisition has a better chance of succeeding than the kmart and sears merger.
- Explains that roberts understood how fast technology was advancing and had a goal to keep up with it. kmart was operating in loss and was losing competitively to stores like wal-mart and target.
- Explains that lampert wanted to gain the market share of wal-mart and target and redefine their brands by allowing loyalty cards at both sears and kmart.
- Opines that the 7-s framework would be a good change model to observe the changes of both companies.
- Explains that comcast/nbcu: the fcc provides a roadmap for vertical merger analysis.
- Explains how kmart lost the attention of discount shoppers. advertising age, 83(12), 8. sliwa, c.
1525 wordsRead More - The Telecommunications Act Of 1996explanatory essayThe second anti-trust suit filed in 1974, United States vs. AT&T, had two major issues. The first was that AT&T's relationship with Western Electric, which AT&T retained in the 1956 settlement, was illegal. The second issue ignited by MCI who was attempting to penetrate the large business market was the fact that AT&T monopolized the long distance...
In this essay, the author
- Explains the telecommunications act of 1996, pub. la. no. 104-104, 110 stat. 56.
- Explains how at&t became the dominant telecommunications company in the early part of the 20th century.
- States the requirements of the telecommunications act of 1996, including interconnection, access to network elements, directory listings, emergency services, number mobility, and local dialing parity.
- Explains that in 2004, the fcc revised the rules stating that carriers like bellsouth and verizon communications are not required to share their switches with competitors, such as mci or at&t.
- Cites economides, n., and reuters. appeals court backs fcc on telephone network unbundling.
1247 wordsRead More - Clear Channel and the Cultural and Socio-Political Ramifications of Media Consolidationanalytical essayIn 1996, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act thereby lifting restrictions on media ownership that had been in place for over sixty years (Moyers 2003; Bagdikian 2000: xviii). It was now possible for a single media company to own not just two radio stations in any given local market, but eight. On the national level, there was no longer any limit on the number of stations a company could own – the Act abandoned the previous nation-wide ownership cap of forty stations (20 FM and 20 AM). This “anti-regulatory sentiment in government” has continued and in 2004 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a new rule that would allow corporations to own “45 percent of the media in a single market, up from [the] 35 percent” established by the 1996 Act (Croteau & Hoynes 2001: 30; AFL-CIO 2004). Companies can now also own both a newspaper and a television station in the same city (AFL-CIO 2004). This deregulation has led to a frenzied wave of mergers – most notably the Viacom/CBS merger in 1999, the largest in history (Croteau & Hoynes 2001: 21). Ownership of the media has rapidly consolidated into fewer and fewer hands as companies have moved to gobble up newspapers, television stations, and radio stations across the country.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the telecommunications act lifted restrictions on media ownership that had been in place for over sixty years. this deregulation has led to a frenzied wave of mergers, including the viacom/cbs merger in 1999.
- Explains that they will assume the role of a cultural studies observer based on douglas kellner's (2003) model of culture studies, which involves discussion of political economy and production, textual analysis, and audience reception.
- Explains that political economy is a production-centered approach to media theory. they will demonstrate how cc's massive size and ideological leanings contribute to what it produces and how it behaves.
- Proposes to show that clear channel is indeed "exhibit a for everything that’s wrong with media deregulation" and consolidation.
- Explains that media mergers and ownership concentrations have led to structural arrangements within media companies, and clear channel is no exception. horizontal integration results from a company's ownership of multiple forms of media.
- Analyzes how clear channel's hegemony in radio, venue ownership and concert promotion has effectively installed the company as a gatekeeper within the music industry in the u.s.
- Analyzes how clear channel relies on market research and focus group sessions to keep its stations firmly in the mainstream of musical tastes.
- Explains that clear channel's profit-driven practices have had a direct and often negative impact on the public at large.
- Narrates how a train derailed and anhydrous ammonia fertilizer suffocated the town, leading to the death of one man, the hospitalization of four hundred others, and the deaths of numerous pets and livestock.
- Explains that clear channel's enormous power and influence is not just in the realm of business, but politics as well. mays and hicks have close ties with the bush family.
- Explains that clear channel's political leanings resulted in several instances of "partisan political activity" and possibly censorship.
- Analyzes how clear channel's profit-driven practices have led it to pursue technology like "voice-tracking" and ignore operating with the public interest in mind, with negative consequences for local communities.
- Describes dines, gail, and humez, (eds.). gender, race and class in media:
- Opines that clear channel’s big radio ways are getting a lot of static.
- Argues that the telecommunications act and the fcc paved the way for the rise of this radio industry behemoth.
- Explains that their research is based on sources that can be divided into two categories: media consolidation in general and resistance literature addressing the particulars regarding clear channel's negative cultural and socio-political impact.
- Explains that clear channel is the largest radio company in the country; its nearest competitor owns fewer than two hundred stations.
- Analyzes how media guru ted turner describes large corporations as "profit-focused and risk-averse." clear channel ignores these criticisms in its drive for profits.
- Analyzes how clear channel's business practices have led to a decline in the number of live and local djs.
- Explains that clear channel's choice of talk show hosts is not based on financial considerations.
- Explains that resistance to clear channel is coming from many avenues, including senator john mccain, senator russ feingold, and the afl/cio.
- Analyzes the cultural and socio-political ramifications of media consolidation as perceived by media theorists and concerned individuals.
- Analyzes how clear channel's political activities are a recipe for large-scale censorship and suppression of dissenting voices. the afl/cio, bill moyers, andrew williams, and clearchannelsucks.org are representative of the resistance.
- Cites gail dines and jean m. humez's gender, race, and class in media: a text reader. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications.
6306 wordsRead More - Warner Cable Strengths And Weaknessesanalytical essayMany people turn to the AT&T and T-Mobile takeover that was turned down and do not understand why the Comcast and Time Warner merger would be allowed. The main reason this is allowed, is because the cable providers service different areas as shown in exhibit 2. Comcast and Time Warner will have control of their region, but they will not be taking away business from the other cable providers. Cell phone service providers service the entire country and have overlapping markets. If AT&T took over T-Mobile, they would gain more power and take away business from Verizon and Sprint. The merger had different implications and this is one of the reasons why Comcast and Time Warner can actually pull off this merger. The VP of Comcast stated “This transaction has the potential to slow the increase in prices. ... Consumers are going to be the big winners (Reuters 2)."
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the internal strengths and weaknesses of the merger between comcast corporation and time warner cable (twc).
- Explains that comcast corporation can utilize twc's strengths by continuing implement their strategies while at the same time exposing and eliminating their weaknesses.
- Explains that the top cable providers in the united states are comcast, time warner, at&t u-verse, verizon fios, and cablevision.
- Explains that warner's main business comes from individual residential subscribers but it is difficult to capture large national businesses due to the cable providers not servicing every state.
761 wordsRead More - Essay On Monopolyanalytical essayAll in all i feel the govt. ought to regulate cable, telephones, and broadcasting as natural monopolies as a result of it's usually most effective to maintain natural monopolies, if they honestly ar natural monopolies, however subject them to some variety of government regulation with relation to costs, quality of service, etc. the rationale for not breaking it up is, of course, by definition, the actual fact that a natural monopoly will attain a lower cost than might competitive companies within the same trade. This contrasts with the case for different kinds of monopolies, that it's typically most effective for them to be variable into competitive companies.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that a natural monopoly is the exclusive possession or management of the provision or change of an artifact or service.
- Explains that a "natural monopoly" is outlined in economic science as associate in nursing trade where the charge of the capital product is so high that it's not profitable.
- Explains that mvpd has implications for broadcast, and that the prices of providing it would be what economists would decide a natural monopoly.
- Analyzes how a would-be cable franchisee suspects indianapolis of violating antitrust legislation by discouraging competition within the native cable market.
- Explains that the value of the cable grid is the most important cost of a cable television and is invariable to the amount of subscribers.
- Argues that the govt. should regulate cable, telephones, and broadcasting as natural monopolies.
735 wordsRead More - Case Analysis Of Gordon V. New York Stock Exchange Caseanalytical essayJessica A. Rebarber, (2011), Credit Suisse v. Billing: The Limited Impact on Application of Antitrust Laws in Federally Regulated Industries Following the 2008 Financial Crisis and Beyond, 6 J. Bus. & Tech. L. 417, Retrieved from: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/jbtl/vol6/iss2/7
In this essay, the author
- Opines that if securities laws and antitrust laws work at the same time, will there be incompatible standards?
- Explains that gordon filed a suit against the new york stock exchange and several other member firms of the exchanges, arguing that the fixed commission rate nyse and other exchanges adopted violated federal antitrust laws.
- Explains that the gordon supreme court expanded the set of circumstances of implied immunity from antitrust laws.
- Explains that the gordon case serves as a precedent for the court decision toward the law suitcases later in financial service industry. credit suisse securities v. billing claims that underwriting firms created illegal agreements with buyers in initial public offerings.
- Explains that the supreme court ruled that antitrust laws do not apply to the syndicate's ipo marketing activity.
- Analyzes how the regulation of the financial services industry affects all parties involved. antitrust continues to play an important role in the u.s. economy.
- Explains that credit suisse v. billing: the limited impact on application of antitrust laws in federal regulated industries following the 2008 financial crisis and beyond.
727 wordsRead More - Clear Channel's Grip on College Radioanalytical essayThe 1996 Telecommunications Act was the first major overhaul of telecom policy since the Communications Act of 1934; it covered everything from radio, television to cable TV (Garofalo, 440). The act removed the restrictions on the number of radio stations any one company could own, which accelerated the trend of a small number of companies owning the vast majority of stations. Clear Channel was a primary beneficiary. In 1995, Clear Channel owned 43 stations. By the early 2000s, it owned over 1,200 stations, which took in 20 percent of the industry revenues in 2001. In addition, Clear Channel owned over 700,000 billboards; it controlled 65 percent of the U.S. concert business; and it posted total revenues exceeding $8 billion (Garafalo, 440).
In this essay, the author
- Explains that clear channel has added more than a dozen top college stations to its iheartradio distribution service. the company has taken it to another level by disguising monetary gain as musical truthfulness.
- Explains garofalo, reebee. rockin out: popular music in america. upper saddle river, nj: pearson education, 2010.
- Explains waits, jennifer c., "does ‘indie’ mean independence? freedom and restraint in a late 1990s us college radio community."
- Analyzes how clear channel has been undermining the values of diversity, localism, and market completion within the music industry since the media policy wars in the early 2000s.
- Argues that clear channel's plan to enrich and benefit college radio stations is merely a cheap trick to profit.
1147 wordsRead More - The Debate Over Net Neutrality Lawsanalytical essaySince the Vonage case in 2005, the FCC drafted a set of principles which were used as guidelines to follow in governing over complaints that were sent to the FCC. Other complaints to the FCC followed such as Comcast blocking file sharing applications (Higginbotham, 2010) and Telus blocking web sites (Cesarini, 2008) which...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that vonage, a phone company that transmits telephone calls over the internet, complained to the federal communications commission (fcc) about an unknown service provider blocking their telephone service.
- Explains that the fcc drafted a set of principles that were used as guidelines to follow in governing over complaints, which caused the net neutrality debate to gain attention by the media.
- Explains that public interest groups and net neutrality supporters want legislation passed to prohibit internet service providers from blocking data sent over the internet.
- Explains that content providers and net neutrality advocates fear tiered pricing structures, similar to cable television and wireless service of cell phones.
- Argues that innovation and fair competition on the internet is in jeopardy unless legislation is passed to protect an open internet. the internet enables small and large businesses to compete with each other due to the minimal capital required to be competitive in the online marketplace.
- Argues that passing the "preserving the open internet" legislation may prohibit expansion of their networks and quality of service.
- Explains that internet providers argue that the internet is already neutral and that "preserving the open internet" legislation is not needed. cable companies claim that they only inspect data to optimize routing to achieve maximum efficiency.
- Explains that internet service providers claim that the fcc should not be governing the internet at all.
- Opines that the debate over passing "preserving the open internet" legislation can finally come to an end as the legislation was recently passed by the fcc and will go into effect on november 1, 2011.
- Cites cesarini, p. (2008, november 14). dueling data. the chronicle of higher education retrieved.
- Cites greenfield, r. (2006, june). the net neutrality debate: the basics.
- Cites higginbotham, s. and plumer, b. (2010, december 4). why it’s time to put an end to the net-neutrality debate.
1635 wordsRead More - Microsoft's Case: Microsoft Vs. The US Governmentopinion essayIn 1994 the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint against Microsoft saying that Microsoft had an exclusive contract with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) which is anticompetitive and allows Microsoft to maintain their monopoly for PC operating systems. A settlement was made which disallowed Microsoft from making integrated products and restricted their licensing activities by not tying software products together. In 1997 the DOJ returned to court saying Microsoft has violated the consent decree as Microsoft to keep up with the new competition has tied Internet Explorer with their OS. This violates the decree. The DOJ was successful in the District Court. It was then brought to the Court of Appeals. The case consisted of the Department of Justice, Attorney Generals from 20 states and the District of Columbia where they sued Microsoft for monopolising the market for operating systems, having anti-competitive contracts with OEMs, attempting to monopolise the market for internet browsers and for integrating their web browser with their operating system. Microsoft was found liable...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that microsoft vs. the us government is one of the most famous anti-trust cases in the us history.
- Explains that in 1994, the doj filed a complaint against microsoft saying that microsoft had an exclusive contract with oems which is anticompetitive and allows microsoft to maintain their monopoly for pc operating systems.
- Opines that the doj intervention was necessary as microsoft went against the sherman act by demonstrating pricing behaviors consistent with that of a firm who enjoys monopoly power.
- Opines that the government's remedies were effective and that bill gates has proven to be a shark in whatever market he is involved in.
719 wordsRead More