Its summertime and perhaps all the flurry of activity to merge media companies was more hope than reality. On both the content and distribution side of the business, two attempt to merge operations has failed to materialize, for now. Last night, Fox has decided to not go after the Time Warner business and Sprint has withdrawn its plans to acquire T-Mobile. The FCC now can concentrate on fewer remaining acquisition efforts, Comcast - Time Warner Cable and AT&T - DirecTv.
Still the notion of consolidation is a sound one, assuring an immediate pop in market saturation and more leverage against other bigger entities in the competitive landscape. That these two deals have failed to materialize could open the doors for other mergers to move forward. Or simply cause the media industry to pause and reconsider the strategy. It is the dog days of summer and perhaps all will be refreshed to do battle post Labor Day.
