LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- A major hurdle is cleared for Time Warner Cable to buy out Insight Communications, as the FCC gives the merger between the two companies the green light.
It could be only a matter of weeks before Time Warner takes over the Louisville cable market. The Federal Communication Commission says the benefits outweigh the potential harm, and that if Time Warner takes over Insight it will serve the public interest and provide convenience.
What Louisville customers want to know is whether rates will go up. Insight says in the near future the answer is no. Jason Keller of Insight says, "In the short run it means they're not going to see any change in their service."
WDRB asked that question to Time Warner Cable, but the company would only give us this statement: "We do expect the deal to close in the next few months and we will communicate with customers as we draw closer to that time."
This would not be Time Warner's first acquisition deal. Last summer the company bought NewWave Communications in Western Kentucky.
Keller says, "In each of those instances, customer bills have not gone up and we fully expect that that will be the case here."
Insight serves 750,000 customers across Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. It employs more than 3,000 people with a majority of those in Louisville. 900 people work at the call center in the Commerce Crossing business park.
Keeping those jobs has been a major sticking point as negotiations continue on a new contract between Insight and Metro Government. The old contract expired at the end of the year. The city is right now talking to both Insight and Time Warner.
As for when the $3 billion buyout takes place, we're told -- soon. Keller says, "We indicated that the first half of this year was when our target date would be to close this transaction, and we fully expect to meet that."
Time Warner is the second largest cable company in the nation behind Comcast. It already is the cable provider in central Kentucky and Lexington.
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