By this time next year, Comcast and Time Warner hope to be throwing a huge party to celebrate the completion of their joint acquisition of bankrupt rival Adelphia for $17.6bn. When they do, assuming no regulatory obstacles or last-minute rival bids, their dominance of the US cable sector will be secured.

As well as enhancing their own profitability by adding new subscribers, the deal as planned will allow them to swap subscribers in certain areas. This will remove competition, as they will not be fighting for the same people, and give them further clout to sell more services to their customers.