Internal Analysis:
In our internal analysis of the merger between Comcast Corporation and Time Warner Cable (TWC) we looked at the internal strengths and weaknesses of the acquired company. By analyzing these strengths and weaknesses we determined that Comcast Corp. proposal to acquire TWC will have potential benefits. Comcast Corporation is already a giant, owning the nation’s largest cable distribution network and TWC is the second largest cable distributor serving roughly 12 million households. A combination of the two companies is said to generate multiple pro-consumer and pro-competitive benefits (Grimes 1).
TWC have many strengths that essentially relate to one another. These strengths consist of having strong financial results, having a collection of great brands and having diversity in their media operations.Time Warner Cable strong financial results has shown their ability to continue to expand and fulfill their business needs. Full-year revenue increased 3.4% year over year. According to Time Warner Cable Reports 2013 4th-Quarter results this increase is driven primarily by the growth of 21.6% in business service revenue and 14.4% residential high-speed data revenue (http://ir.timewarnercable.com/investor-relations/investor-news/financial-release-details/2014/Time-Warner-Cable-Reports-2013-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-Results/default.aspx)
TWC currently has an advantage of having a strong collection of brands that are owned under one roof. The collection of brands are Home Box Office Inc., Warner Bros., and Turner Broadcasting System. Each of these operating divisions allows TWC to gain a competitive advantage from opportunities for constructive collaboration (http://www.timewarner.com/our-company/about-us).
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Many 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)."
By the acquisition, Comcast was clearly investing in content; this is a huge transformation for Comcast. This acquisition signals that they want to get bigger ...
Growing from a small provider of a few thousand, the company has grown to be a massive conglomerate encompassing far greater than simply cable services. Now owning NBC Universal, Comcast exerts great power within the market, employing a variety of strategies to expand itself and remain profitable. When it attempted to merge with Time Warner cable, several strongly opposed when considering the massive power it already possessed. In addition, growing sentiment against cable providers has resulted in the reduction of subscribers. Despite this, Comcast is in a high period of expansion within the business cycle. However, it should remain cautious of the changing environment of how consumers obtain television
...erience. Due to low switching costs and many competitors both entering and existing in the market to keep yourself out in front you have to prove to be different. Offering many options to save along with convenience will help Publix keep their market share for many years to come.
In 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.
Television, the phone, and the internet. These inventions have uniquely shaped the 20th century and have led to the 21st century being known as the age of information. These services are the primary ways we communicate, express ourselves, and reach out in our ever increasing global world. In the United States, these services are provided by a number of different firms, chief among them is Comcast, being the largest provider of Cable and internet in America, and a large telephone provider. Next to it stands Time Warner Cable, the second largest provider of cable in the United States. The decision for Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable for forty-five billion dollars in 2014 has led to many criticizing the merger, calling it a monopoly. Others have called the whole cable system an oligopoly. For it to be a monopoly or an oligopoly, it would have to fit their respective categories. The merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable would not create a true monopoly, but would give it significant market power because it has monopoly resources and can be considered a natural monopoly. It will also further its power in a market dominated by oligopolies. People argue that it is not a danger to Americans for this merger to happen, but when one looks at the practices Comcast already uses, it paints
Before granting merger forms The Bureau of Competition was committed to ensuring that involved companies do not create a monopoly in the market and hence reduce competition that may also affect the integrity of the services provided. In most cases the bureau controlling the start and the running of mergers uses the Hart-Scott-Rodino amendments to the Clayton Act (Clark, 2011). Before becoming a part of the merger it is important that FTC does an analysis of the merger to evaluate the effects the merger may have on the businesses. In addition, it is important that FTC gets to have a clear picture of the situation and how it is expected to affect the relations...
The soft factors can make or break a successful change process, since new structures and strategies are difficult to build upon inappropriate cultures and values. These problems often come up in the dissatisfying results of spectacular mega-mergers. The lack of success and synergies in such mergers is often based in a clash of completely different cultures, values, and styles, which make it difficult to establish effective common systems and structuresBased on the case study, extensive research and annual reports of AT&T the writer has mapped AT&T in the different domains. AT&T should strive to attain a perfect circle as close to the centre as possible, which indicates total synergy, order and equilibrium. Where the circle is skewed drastic change is needed as it moves closer to the outer ring of chaos:
The year is 1952 and a young John Rigas purchased a cable company for a mere $300 in Coudersport, Pennsylvania with high hopes of building the company into a successful family owned and operated business (AICPA, 2005, para. 3); a business that would remain unparallel to the rest of its competition. In the late 1990s his dreams came to fruition; John Rigas, along with a few close family members and investors, purchased Century Communications for $5.2 billion and merged the companies together becoming the 6th largest cable company serving more than 5.6 million subscribers (AICPA, 2005, para. 4). Ensuring that the majority of Adelphia’s voting stock and control of the board remained in the hands of f...
There is no doubt that cell phone services in the U.S. are big business since it allows consumers to go anywhere, do anything and communicate at any time. With so much demand and so little competition there is always going to be that urge to for a bigger company to merge with a smaller one to gain more market shares and more consumers. If it were not for Herfindahl Hirschman Index (HHI) this market would probably have a monopoly on its hands. This was evident when AT&T tried to merge with T-Mobile which will be evaluated here along with how the HHI works and what would have happened if AT&T tried to merge with a smaller carrier such as TracFone. Following this examination, a brief look at the anti-trust guidelines and the pros and cons of this possible merger will be discussed.
In this paper, I would like to analyze Netflix’s distinctive strategies based on their competitive advantage and how it covers from its strategy mistakes in the high threat industry as well as give some viable suggestion for the future development of the company.
Comcast Cable’s intent during the next five years is to continue increasing their market share by providing superior customer service to their existing customers and any potential customers. They will continue building their customer base through increasing residential and business service accounts. Comcast will continue
The Internet boom of the 1990’s gave rise to the popularity of America Online AOL and Time Warner saw themselves at a crossroads where old and new media would become one. The histories of both AOL and Time Warner are extensive and have not always been successful. Time Warner itself was created by two mega-mergers. The first merger was in 1989 between Time Inc., publisher of many magazines such as Time Magazine, and Warner Communications. Both companies have histories stretching as far back as 75 years or so. In 1996, this company merged with Turner Broadcasting, which brought CNN with its founder Ted Turner. These two mergers created a company ready to lead in any form of media. The company launched the HBO television network. Time Warner, headquartered in New York, had $27.3 billion in revenues in 1999 and a market value of $112.6 billion. On the other side of the merger there is new media giant AOL, today the biggest, richest, and most successful internet company in the world. It was founded in 1985 as Quantum Computer Services and by 1994, after changing its name, had a million subscribers. In its early years, it almost fell because of the problems associated with introducing unlimited access for a fixed monthly fee. As its number of users increased, so did its capacity problems, which made many customers angry because they could not get a connection. The problem was solved when AOL made a deal with MCI WorldCom, which led merge with its rival CompuServe.
Walmart’s vertical integration and acquisition made it takes competitive advantage on suppliers and other competitors. I can see this as a strength is because Walmart’s supply chain is very efficient and it owns a strong bargaining power to its suppliers. It also introduced new technologies such as the latest just-in-time system to its daily operation to make Walmart runs more effectively. Furthermore, its vertical integration and acquisition allows Walmart to lower the cost of its goods or raw materials, which give its pricing strategy more flexibility, compare to its competitors.
Branding/Promotion – AT&T is leading to be the only telecommunication company their customers need by connecting people better than anyone else.
We intend to exploit our leadership role by continuing to target and enter segments of the communications market that we believe will experience rapid growth or grow faster than the industry as a whole....