11-06-2017, 02:07 PM
(11-03-2017, 03:27 PM)GMDino Wrote: The way I've been reading it they are starting to expand nationally and most of the rules changes have been made to allow that to happen.
But they won't bust it up.
Well, they were already the 2nd largest tv station operator before Trump was elected. They are, however, trying to buy Tribune Media Company, which is another major player in major markets.
I don't think there's been a whole lot of progress on mega mergers, well basically ever. It's still fairly rare to see a deal scuttled over regulatory approval. Part of the problem is the tests for monopoly power have become quite liberal to include subsitutes/competing technologies (for example, Netflix and Hulu could be considered in calculations of share for cable operators).
It seems these things are a bit cyclical. The 80's were the decade of empire building and mega deals....and the resulting waste and inefficiency virtually created the Private Equity industry where companies started getting carved-up to unlock value.
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