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$45 Billion Comcast, Time Warner Cable Merger Officially Dropped

By KYW tech editor Ian Bush

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Comcast, the Philadelphia-based cable television behemoth, has officially dropped its proposed mega-merger with Time Warner Cable.

After developments this week in Washington, it was going to be an uphill climb to say the least for the $45-billion takeover bid by Comcast to be approved by federal regulators.

Bloomberg News cited "people with knowledge of the matter" in an earlier report that said Comcast was planning on dropping the merger.

Officials have been looking into whether the deal would violate antitrust laws and prevent competition.

Comcast and Time Warner Cable have always argued that it wouldn't, because they don't overlap in any market.   But many of those opposed to the merger said they were troubled that the combined companies would control more than half of the country's broadband Internet market, especially with more and more of the cable business migrating from television to data.

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