Comcast’s (CMCSA) acquisition of Time Warner Cable might not close until Q2 2015, says a UBS analyst, who nonetheless raised his price target on Comcast stock on expected synergies from the merger. The Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice are reviewing the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, which would combine the two biggest cable TV firms in the U.S. Comcast recently said it expects to complete the merger in early 2015.
Cable TV companies are morphing into broadband companies. No. 1 cable firm Comcast (CMCSA) is on track to serve more Internet subscribers than video customers in 2015, which already is the case with Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Charter Communications (CHTR). In Q2, the top cable TV firms lost 510,000 video subscribers but gained 381,000 broadband customers, says research firm LRG. The trend has implications for Internet video competition and cable
Cable and telephone companies added 385,000 broadband Internet subscribers in the second quarter, up 30.5% from 295,000 net high-speed subscribers in Q2 of 2013. Comcast (CMCSA) led the way with 203,000 net new additions in Q2. Comcast is the No. 1 provider of broadband Internet services in the U.S., followed by AT&T (T), which lost 55,000 subscribers in Q2, according to Leichtman Research Group. The data was collected from the 17 largest cable