Public interest groups and content creators gathered at the Writers Guild of America West on Wednesday to call for regulators to reject the proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

The press conference was focused on the transaction’s impact on the Los Angeles market, where Comcast would take over TW Cable systems as well as those owned by Charter Communications. Charter is swapping subscribers with Comcast as part of the transaction.

Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.), a critic of the proposed merger, announced his opposition and urged the FCC and the Justice Department to block the deal. Cardenas said the merger was a “tipping point in the American media and broadband industry and would encourage a market that is not free.”

According to the WGAW, when it comes to offering Internet service with a speed of at least 25 Mbps, 72% of Los Angeles County would be served by one provider if the merger goes through and 28% by two providers.

Chris Keyser, president of the Writers Guild of America West, said that the merger would give Comcast increased leverage to demand lower programming license fees, ultimately affecting money available for the production of content. He also said Comcast would command disproportionate power over Internet distribution at the very time writers are enjoying significant opportunities.

“If Comcast has its way, it will have the ability to control Internet distribution,” he said, adding that the merger would hurt jobs if it leads to less spending in programming.

The groups presented a report, “L.A. Consolidation,” which noted that if the merger is approved, Comcast would offer service to 96% of the Los Angeles County population.

“Comcast has told the FCC that it expects to save $1.5 billion in the first three years following the merger and $1.5 billion each year thereafter,” the report states. “Comcast has attributed some portion of this to programming cost savings from paying lower rates to carry television networks than TWC does. The problem is that these fees, paid by cable companies to television networks and other content suppliers, have helped finance television’s recent creative renaissance. As a result of the merger, content suppliers will have less money to invest in content, which could mean less creativity, fewer jobs, and lower quality productions.”

Others said that the merger would lead to higher prices for consumers, particularly for broadband service.

Paul Goodman of the Greenlining Institute said that low-income and minority residents would be disproportionately affected. David Goodfriend of the Sports Fans Coalition argued that the merged company will charge rivals larger license fees for the Dodgers and the Lakers channels. Last year, a standoff between TW Cable and companies like DirecTV left about 70% of the market without access to the Dodgers channel.

Comcast has argued that it is not reducing competition in any market, as it does not compete directly with Time Warner Cable in Los Angeles or elsewhere.

The report warned that Comcast would introduce usage-based billing to customers, while TW Cable has pledged not to do so.

Comcast, however, has argued that it faces competition for video service from DirecTV and Dish, and that usage-based billing is aimed at customers who employ the service to the greatest extent.

Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said, “Without this transaction, benefits like our low-income broadband program won’t come to cities like Dallas, Los Angeles and New York. Consumers will wait longer for faster broadband speeds and more advanced video choices. … The citizens of Southern California will be worse off. We want to bring these real benefits to Time Warner Cable areas as soon as possible, and will continue to work with the national and state regulatory agencies to make that possible.”

She said that the company has invested nearly $10 billion in California since 1996, and since its acquisition of NBC Universal in 2011, it has “created several thousands jobs directly in the creative and construction fields — and more through thousands of production jobs associated with out television and film production in California.”

She also noted that Comcast’s competitors like Dish and DirecTV reach nearly 100% of U.S. homes, including “nearly all Hispanic homes.” She said that Comcast’s distribution platform delivers more than 60 Latino networks in both Spanish and English.

“Other services like Netflix can reach any home in America with a broadband connection and already has millions more subscribers today than the Comcast-TWC combination will have,” Fitzmaurice said.