NYC Okays Charter, TWC Franchise Transfer

In another positive sign for the Charter/Time Warner Cable deal, the City of New York's franchise review committee has approved the transfer of the TWC franchises to Charter.

The Franchise Concession and Review Committee met March 7 and have signed off on the transfer of the franchises, according to a draft copy provided to B&C.

At issue were five franchises in Queens, Northern and Southern Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Basically, the review committee concluded that Charter would have "the technical, managerial and financial ability to comply with the provisions of the existing franchise agreement."

“We thank Mayor de Blasio, his administration and staff for their support. We also thank City Comptroller Scott Stringer and the Borough Presidents from each of the four boroughs where TWC currently provides service for also supporting this transaction through the FCRC vote today. We look forward to successfully completing this transaction and bringing its many benefits to customers in New York City.”

The FCC and Department of Justice are currently reviewing the deal and if the FCC holds to its own unofficial merger review shot clock timetable, they should be circulating a decision before month's end.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.