BOB GOODLATTE, Vi rginia 
CHAIRMAN 
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR,, Wisconsin 
LAMAR S SMITH, Texas 
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 
DARRELLE ISSA, California 
J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia 
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 
STEVE KING, Iowa 
TRENT FRANKS, Arizona 
LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas 
JIM JORDAN, Ohio 
TEO POE, Texas 
JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah 
TOM MARINO, Pennsy lvania 
TREY GOWDY, South Caro llna 
RAUL R LABRADOR, Idaho 
BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas 
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia 
<tongrrss of thr tlnitrd ~tatrs 
iA.ousr of 'Rr prrsmtatiors 
AON DeSANTJS, Florida 
MIMI WALTERS, California 
KEN BUCK, Co lorado 
JOHN RATCLIFFE, Texas 
DAVE TROTT, M ichigan 
MIKE BISHOP, Michigan 
The Honorable Loretta Lynch 
Attorney General 
Department of Justice 
950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW 
Washington, D.C. 20530 
The Honorable Tom Wheeler 
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 
2138 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING 
WASHINGTON, DC 20515- 6216 
(202) 225-3951 
http://www.house.gov/judiciary 
March 17, 2016 
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission 
445 1th Street SW 
gth Floor 
Washington, D.C. 20554 
Dear Attorney General Lynch and Chairman Wheeler: 
JOHN CONYERS, JR , Michigan 
RANKING MEMBER 
JERROLD NADLER, New York 
ZOE LOFGREN, California 
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas 
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee 
HENRY C "HANK" JOHNSON, JR, Georgia 
PEDRO R PIER LUISI , Puerto Rico 
JUDY CHU, Cal i forn ia 
TEO DEUTCH, Florida 
LUIS V GUTIERREZ, Illinois 
KAREN BASS, Ca lifo rnia 
CEDRIC L RICHMOND, Louisiana 
SUZAN K DELBENE, Washington 
HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES, New York 
DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 
SCOTT PETERS, California 
As your respective agencies review Charter Communications' proposed acquisitions of Time 
Warner Cable (TWC) and Bright House Networks (BHN), I write to bring to your attention 
important issues to consider and to urge close review of these transactions. Moreover, should 
you decide to impose any conditions on these transactions, as is generally the case, I strongly 
urge that such conditions be made durable and easily enforceable to promote compeititon in this 
market and ensure consumer choice and affordability. 
The House Judiciary Committee has held hearings on a number of transactions in the 
telecommunications industry in recent years. Among the various issues that the Committee 
examined was the potential for pay television providers that are also dominant high-speed 
broadband providers to use their dominant position as broadband providers to throttle the 
emergence of competing online video distributors. 
According to critics, the Charter-TWC-BHN transaction would allow the merged entity, together 
with Comcast, to control 70 to 90 percent of the high-speed broadband market, as that market is 
defined by the Federal Communications Commission. Critics also assert that New Charter's 
increased footprint could enable it to undermine competition from existing and emerging over­
the-top (OTT) streaming services by pricing high-speed broadband in service bundles to 
effectively deter and.limit consumer access to popular OTT competitors. Finally, some have 
raised the concern that new or independent programmers could be negatively impacted by the 
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Letter to Attorney General Lynch and Chairman Wheeler 
March 17, 2016 
Page2 
Charter-TWC-BHN transaction. Lacking the leverage of must-have content like live sports and 
marquee national events, critics contend that new or independent programmers could be forced 
to accept below-market terms for carriage or other unfavorable conditions, thus threatening their 
viability and diluting the diversity of voices in the market. 
In response to these concerns, Charter maintains that it has made certain commitments to protect 
online video distributors and net neutrality and that 88 percent of households would have a 
choice of two or more wired broadband providers, thereby dimishing its ability and incentive to 
engage in such anticompetitive behavior. Charter likewise contends that it does not have 
significant programming interests to protect, that it carries a significant number of diverse and 
independent programmers, and that several independent programmers support the transaction. 
I urge you to focus on these considerations and to weigh the arguments of boths sides carefully 
as you continue your reviews of these transactions and their potential impact on competition and 
the public interest. As I noted initially, should you deem it necessary to impose conditions, I 
would ask that such conditions are made durable and easily enforceable in order to promote 
competition, prevent consumer harm, and protect the public interest. 
Thank you for your consideration. 
Sincerely, 
cc: Honorable Bob Goodlatte, Chairman, House Committee on the· Judiciary