The New Cable Map

Once Comcast is approved to acquire the Time Warner Cable systems, and that seems only a matter of time, agreements seem already in place with Charter Communication to swap some systems, spin out others, and create a new cable order.  The death of Time Warner Cable will leapfrog Charter into the number two position for cable subscribers.  And while it will be significantly less than what Comcast will manage, it will more than double the subscriber numbers for Charter. 

For Comcast, it will enable them to cover the eastern markets of the US, from Maine down to Florida.  Subscribers from Time Warner include Portland, all the major cities of New York, and Charlotte and other North Carolina and South Carolina markets.  Charter will swap markets in Connecticut and California and elsewhere enabling Comcast to have major share in most of the top 10 DMAs.  While this map doesn't include current Comcast markets, it provides some nice detail on the markets that will trade hands.

While Charter has never had much impact in major DMAs, the acquisition of these subs will give them some strong clusters in states like Ohio and Wisconsin.  Looking at this map is like watching the a military operation as it splits up its spoils from a once mighty regime. 

So where did Time Warner Cable go wrong?  Once part of a larger Time Warner company, ranked 2nd in cable operations, to a soon to be forgotten footnote in the history of cable television.  That would certainly make a great blog one day, perhaps even a book on the rise and fall of the Time Warner Cable empire.  For now we watch as Comcast soon gains approval to consume and share some pieces of the carcass called Time Warner Cable.