The failure of the Comcast-Time Warner deal represented a victory for Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken, who voiced opposition to the merger since the deal was first announced in February 2014,
according to Roll Call.
"In attacking the proposal, no lawmaker was a bigger player than Franken," Roll Call said.
Franken pressed federal regulators several times to reject the proposed merger and took a leading role in questioning the deal at a
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier in the month.
In the days before the deal fell through,
Franken was the lead signatory of a letter signed by six senators to the Justice Department and FCC opposing the deal. The senators said there was an "undeniable reality that the combined Comcast-TWC would be the overwhelmingly dominant cable and broadband Internet provider in the nation and control much of the programming that Americans watch."
When reports surfaced late last week that Comcast would be
dropping its bid, Franken promptly
issued a statement reiterating his opposition to the deal and calling its failure a "victory" for consumers.
"I've been opposed to this deal since it was first announced, and I'm glad that over the last 15 months, more and more people have come to see it the way I do. This transaction would create a telecom behemoth that would lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and even worse service.
"We need more competition in this space, not less. If reports of the collapse of the deal are true, it would be a huge victory for American consumers," he said.
Comcast officially announced that the deal was off the table on Friday.
"Of course, we would have liked to bring our great products to new cities, but we structured this deal so that if the government didn't agree, we could walk away," said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in announcing the decision.
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