Did Bad Customer Service Cost Comcast Merger?

Comcast’s decision spells the end of a deal that would have combined the two biggest cable operators in the U.S. to create an Internet and cable behemoth. Together, Comcast and Time Warner would have served approximately 30 million customers and controlled roughly 57 percent of the market for broadband and 30 percent of the market for pay TV. Merging with Time Warner Cable would also have handed Comcast the keys to New York and Los Angeles—two massive markets that it didn’t already control. After 14 months of planning and lobbying by the telecom giants, the conclusion felt abrupt. But considering how almost universally Comcast is disliked—by consumers, other companies, and apparently regulators—it’s also not terribly surprising.