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 The collapse of the deal opens the door for other possible offers
for Time Warner Cable, but also casts heightened regulatory risk on
merger activity in the U.S. cable industry, which has been rapidly
consolidating in the face of competition from satellite TV and
Web-based services.
The proposed acquisition had faced criticism from some politicians,
media company executives and consumer and industry groups, who had
worried it would create a monolith with too much control over what
Americans do online and watch on TV. Comcast had argued the merger
would bring faster service and better video services to more
Americans.
"The pressure to consolidate in a very competitive industry is going
to continue," Maxim Group analyst John Tinker said.
 Charter Communications Inc lost out on a bid for Time Warner Cable
last year, and Charter's controlling shareholder, Liberty Media
Corp, had since indicated continuing interest.
"We believe that TWC will get a bid from Charter in the next three
months, which we expect to be lower than the market expects,"
Needham analysts said in a note. The analysts said they expected the
opening bid at $130 to $135 per share.
Time Warner Cable shares last traded at $152.52, up 2.5 percent on
the day. Comcast shares were up 0.15 percent at $59.32 and Charter
shares were down 0.8 percent at $182.18. ANTI-COMPETITIVE CONCERNS
The Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger would have created a company
controlling almost 30 percent of the U.S. pay-TV subscribers,
following promised divestitures, and would have provided high-speed
Internet access to almost 40 percent of Americans, according to SNL
Kagan data.
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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said on
Friday that the merger would have posed an "unacceptable risk to
competition and innovation."
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the companies' decision to
abandon the deal was "the best outcome for American consumers."
Comcast had argued that the Time Warner Cable deal would not be
anti-competitive because the companies had no real geographic
overlap. The company had also proposed to divest some assets to help
address regulatory concerns.
The collapse of the deal is a setback for Comcast Chief Executive
Brian Roberts.
"Today, we move on," he said in a statement.
(Additional reporting by Supantha Mukherjee)
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