NEW YORK — Comcast is abandoning its $45.2 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable, according to media reports.
Bloomberg News and The New York Times reported Thursday that the cable company is planning to drop the bid after pushback from regulators. Both cited unidentified people with knowledge of the matter.
Comcast may make an announcement as soon as Friday, Bloomberg said.
Comcast and Time Warner Cable declined to comment.
Combining the No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. cable companies would put nearly 30 percent of TV and about 55 percent of broadband subscribers under one roof. That would give the resulting behemoth unprecedented power over what Americans watch and download.
Competitors, consumer groups and senators opposed the deal.
“This is one of those deals where the opponents of the merger have been one of the most vocal I can remember,” said S&P Capital IQ analyst Tuna Amobi.
One concern, for example, is that the company could undermine the streaming video industry by requiring onerous payments from new online-only video providers for connecting to its network. Dish, the Douglas County-based satellite TV company behind the new Web video service Sling TV, and Netflix are opposed to the deal.
Another charge is that Comcast hasn’t stuck to conditions imposed on it when it bought NBCUniversal. The company says it has, except for one circumstance when the FCC found it wasn’t promoting a stand-alone Internet service. Comcast says it fixed that.
Recent media reports suggested that regulators aren’t going to approve it. Bloomberg, citing unidentified people, said Department of Justice staff attorneys were leaning against the deal.
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, also citing unidentified people, said the FCC staff recommended the merger review go to a hearing under an administrative law judge, although no final decision had been made.
The FCC would send the deal to a judge if it didn’t believe it serves the public interest. The company has the right to present its case to the judge. But a trial could take months, and even then a decision could be appealed to the FCC.
