BizFeed: Sorry Comcast, Time Warner Cable Finds New Buyer

Plus: Shania Twain would still be working at McDonald's if pay was $15 per hour says shareholder.

Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com

Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com

1. Charter Set to Acquire Time Warner Cable

The News: Well that was fast. About a month after Comcast‘s deal with Time Warner Cable fell through, Charter Communications is set to buy Time Warner Cable and another provider, Bright House Networks in a $78 billion deal.

Why it Matters: Combining the second- and third-largest cable providers would create a serious competitor for Comcast (which is No. 1). The combined company would give Charter approximately 24 million customers, second only to Comcast’s 27 million.

It would be quite a coup for Charter to swoop in and secure the Time Warner Cable acquisition, getting all the benefits Comcast wanted: Entry into the Los Angeles and New York markets, and an expanded Internet footprint with Time Warner Cable’s 12 million broadband subscribers.

The deal is sure to face stiff regulator scrutiny. CNN Money predicts that Charter-Time Warner Cable will argue that the deal weakens Comcast’s industry stronghold:

It will likely argue that the combination of Charter, Time Warner Cable and Bright House will serve as a strong counterweight to Comcast — one that doesn’t exist at all right now.

The Wall Street Journal cites Jonathan Chaplin, an analyst at New Street Research, who predicts that regulators will eventually let the deal go through.

“This deal will not be blocked,” he said. “The reason Comcast-Time Warner Cable was a problem for the government was because they were going to have a dominant share of the national broadband market. The concern was they would use their market power in broadband to submerge the development of the over-the-top video market.”

2. McDonald’s Shareholder: If Minimum Wage Was Higher, Shania Twain Never Would Have Been A Star

The News: So, Buzzfeed is reporting that a McDonald’s shareholder says that low-paying jobs are a good thing because they force people to find their next careers.

During an open question session where a number of attendees brought up the company’s low pay, one man who identified himself as a shareholder for the last 25 years cited a number of celebrities who once worked at McDonald’s, including Sharon Stone, Shania Twain, Jay Leno, and Jeff Bezos. “I’m sure if they were making $15 an hour, they’d still be working at McDonald’s,” he said, calling working at the company “a stepping-stone for people to have a first job.”

If wages go up too high, he warned, even the young Sharon Stone’s of the future might end up being too pricey. “We’re going to have robots, and less employees,” he said, saying those seeking higher wages are “shooting themselves in the foot.”

Why it Matters: The logic here is an amazing (and terrifying) display of how rich people think. The whole “get off your ass” attitude is particularly tough for me to digest. I’d like that executive to live on $7.25 per hour. Everyone fighting for minimum wage increases realizes that you can’t work at McDonalds and be rich. But why is it so hard for a billion-dollar company to pay workers a living wage?

3. More People Are Quitting Their Jobs

The News: A new Harris Poll finds that more Americans are unemployed by choice. In fact, nearly 20 percent quit their jobs this year up from 15 percent. Just 28 percent of respondents reported that they were laid off, compared to 36 percent the year before.

Why it Matters: Nobody quits their jobs during difficult economic times. The stats here show that the hiring market has loosened up considerably. The talented employees are seeing it as their chance to make a move for a better job. That’s sending a ripple effect across the entire job market.

The Wall Street Journal’s At Work blog said the uptick in people quitting their jobs is “buoyed by the improving economy and reports of a warming labor market.”