No sooner had the door shut on the Comcast deal last Thursday than reports emerged that Charter Communications, the regional cable operator backed by the billionaire John C. Malone, was exploring a new bid for Time Warner Cable, its second in less than two years.

Some predict consumers will lose no matter who buys whom.

“If you’re selling consumers something they can’t live without, and you’re subject to neither oversight nor competition, consumers aren’t going to be happy,” said Susan P. Crawford, co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard.

via Comcast-Time Warner Cable Deal’s Collapse Leaves Frustrated Customers Out in the Cold – NYTimes.com.