Possible Dancing Partners as Media and Telecom Converge

One of the factors that regulators might consider when examining the merits of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable and AT&T-DirecTV mergers, is it likely that other firms may consider it to be in their best interest to find acquisitions partners.   Here are some possibilities:

Firm	Possible Partner(s)	Reasoning	Concerns
Charter	Cox, Cablevision	Expand national footprint in MVPD and broadband to match the scale of a Comcast-TWC
Verizon	Charter, Cox, Cablevision	Expand national footprint in MVPD and broadband to match the scale of a Comcast-TWC, and expand product bundling to more consumers.  Bundles could include wireline and wireless telephony, video, and broadband	The number of MVPD and broadband competitors in some local markets declines by one, increasing both local and national concentration
Verizon	Dish	Greater size to negotiate more favorable programming deals.  Greater opportunity to bundle telephony, video, and data services	The number of MVPD competitors in some local markets declines by one, increasing both local and national concentration
Sprint or T-Mobile	MVPD (Charter, Cox, Cablevision)	Scope economies from product bundles of wireless with Pay-TV and broadband
Sprint or T-Mobile	Dish	Scope economies from product bundles of wireless with Pay-TV and broadband
Verizon	ABC or CBS or other content providers	Content is king	Foreclosure or discrimination of competitive, non-affiliated content providers.
Dish	ABC or CBS or other content providers	Content is king	Foreclosure or discrimination of competitive, non-affiliated content providers.
Content provider (ABC, CBS, Netflix, etc.)	Broadband provider (small or large)	Content is king.   Broadband (distribution) is queen.	Foreclosure or discrimination of competitive, non-affiliated content providers.