Statement on Charter/Time Warner Cable Merger

NEW YORK, NY (May 26, 2015) – The Writers Guild of America, East released the following statement regarding the merger of Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable:

“We have two fundamental concerns about the Charter/Time Warner Cable merger. First, continued consolidation on the distribution side of the industry is not in the interest of content creators or consumers. Second–and this has not received much attention–is the fact that Charter Communications and Liberty Media are very tightly linked with Discovery Communications, which owns 13 cable networks in the United States alone. In other words, this merger is not a pure ‘distribution’ play. We are concerned that, without carefully crafted restrictions, the merged Charter/TWC entity will exercise its leverage to favor Discovery content. All content creators should have equal, non-preferential access to the digital pipeline (that is, the wire carrying cable television programs and Internet service, including video streams, to consumers).”

ABOUT WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, EAST
The Writers Guild of America, East, AFL-CIO (WGAE) is a labor union representing writers in motion pictures, television, cable, digital media and broadcast news. The Guild negotiates and administers contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members; conducts programs, seminars and events on issues of interest to writers; and presents writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America, East, visit wgaeast.org.

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