Ever so rarely, something comes along to challenge the narrative that the US government is beholden to the corporate interests that fund political campaigns.
This week Comcast, the nation’s biggest cable company, reluctantly walked away from its $45 billion bid for the second-biggest, Time Warner Cable. Comcast spends more money than just about any other US corporation on political donations and lobbying. And yet, despite pressure from lawmakers whose campaigns it had funded, and mountains of filings from its army of lawyers, the company couldn’t convince regulators to sanction the takeover, which has been deeply unpopular among consumers from the outset.
One of the loudest and earliest critics of the deal was Netflix and its CEO Reed Hastings. The streaming video service spends comparatively little on lobbying and political donations, but Hastings adroitly fanned the flames of discontent toward Comcast. Cable providers consistently rank among the most despised companies in the US due to rising bills and generally shoddy customer service, which helps explain Netflix’s startling rise in popularity.
Admittedly, this was something of a perfect storm. Few issues rile Americans up like television. Few publics are as easy to organize as an angry swarm of internet users. Few corporations are as hated as Comcast. And, unlike most issues in US politics, this wasn’t a partisan one.
Moreover, the collapse of the merger won’t fix the structural problems with internet service in the US, where providers enjoy near-monopoly status in much of the country. Consolidation in cable and broadband will probably continue, albeit in other configurations.
Nonetheless, the failure of this particular attempt at consolidation shows that, when the conditions are right, it’s possible to influence the political process without lavish campaign contributions. As the US presidential campaign begins to gather steam, that’s something worth remembering.—John McDuling
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