DOJ Okays Charter-TimeWarner Deal

Charter Communications Inc. won U.S. antitrust approval for its $55 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable Inc., which would create the No. 2 U.S. cable provider, after agreeing to measures intended to protect distribution of online video.

Bloomberg is reporting bCharter can’t strike agreements with programmers that would make it more difficult for streaming services like Netflix Inc. to obtain content, according to a Justice Department filing in federal court in Washington Monday. Tom Wheeler, the head of the Federal Communications Commission, also supports approval of the merger, according to a person familiar with the matter.

U.S. officials are trying to protect the growing market for online video services and have moved to prevent cable companies from thwarting distribution of content by entertainment companies over the Internet. Charter and No. 1 Comcast Corp. would have an effective duopoly over broadband service to U.S. homes, critics of the deal have said. Charter said it will serve less than 21 percent of the broadband market.

The enlarged Charter, which is also buying Bright House Networks LLC, would supplant Time Warner Cable as the second-largest U.S. cable operator, gaining 13 million customers in cities including New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. Charter last year said after the deals close it would have 23.9 million customers in 41 states -- a figure that includes customers paying for broadband or telephone and not for video.

Charter in May agreed to acquire New York-based Time Warner Cable and Bright House, a cable company based in Syracuse, New York, for $55.1 billion and $10.4 billion, respectively.

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