Sen. Chuck Schumer, Comcast’s Executive Vice President David Cohen, and Sen. Fred Upton are all players in the merger battle. | AP Photos Comcast readies for Washington war

Cable giant Comcast started the day with a call to arms, hosting its lobbyists and consultants, along with Time Warner Cable’s, on a private conference call to begin building a strategy to beat back threats in Washington that could jeopardize its $45 billion merger.

Comcast’s top congressional lobbyist Melissa Maxfield ran the call, laying out the company’s Washington outreach strategy for its in-house government affairs team and for its hired guns.


Consultants for Comcast and Time Warner Cable were sent the press release announcing the merger and talking points to use on Capitol Hill and at federal agencies.

( Also on POLITICO: Comcast merger under fire)

K-Streeters also began reaching out to Capitol Hill and agency staffers to report back on how the merger proposal was being received, according to sources familiar with the strategy.

Meanwhile, Comcast and Time Warner Cable went on offense with the media, releasing coordinated statements and talking points that promised the deal would clear all regulatory hurdles.

The activity lays the groundwork for what’s shaping up to be an aggressive campaign by Comcast to sell the Time Warner Cable deal in Washington. Sources familiar with the company said they expect Comcast to try to sway lawmakers, community organizations, agencies and other groups in advance of public hearings most observers expect will be scheduled in the coming months.

The strategy makes sense, given that the deal — which would combine the two biggest cable operators — will attract scrutiny from Congress, government antitrust cops and the Federal Communications Commission, which must decide if a larger Comcast would result in higher prices for consumers and less competition in the marketplace.

( Also on POLITICO: Hurdles ahead for Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal)

Comcast knows how important an influence operation is when it comes to cutting a major deal. Its team comes to this battle with a successful track record, having turned the tide in favor of its purchase of NBC Universal in 2011.

But the Time Warner Cable deal is a different type of merger, involving complex questions of rates, Internet service and other issues.

Still, Comcast is aiming to notch another victory.

Comcast’s Executive Vice President David Cohen pledged to a skeptical Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that he’d preserve Time Warner Cable jobs in New York if the deal is approved.

“Once you take a breath, and think through this analytically, and get through some of the hysteria … this transaction is pro-consumer [and] pro-competitive,” Cohen said on a call with reporters.

Comcast also released a memo detailing how it would divest assets and maintain its net neutrality commitments if it gets the green light on the acquisition.

Already opponents are lining up against the potential merger.

( Sign up for POLITICO’s Morning Tech tip sheet)

“Where we’re really concerned is in the ability for a much bigger Comcast to give even more preferential treatment to the content and networks it owns through its purchase of NBC Universal,” said Stephanie Chen, telecommunications policy director at The Greenlining Institute. “This merger would make a tough situation even tougher for smaller content providers, especially minority-owned and -produced content.”

The company oversees an extensive D.C. operation. It spent almost $20 million last year lobbying Congress on reforms to the country’s cable laws, the future of the FCC’s net neutrality rules and other topics. Time Warner Cable for its part spent $8 million last year to lobby on many of those same issues, according to federal disclosures. Comcast’s long-time law firms Davis Polk & Wardwell will handle antitrust issues and Wilkie Farr will be responsible for regulatory legal issues.

Comcast is also active in campaign finance, donating $1.7 million to the 2014 reelection efforts of key lawmakers, including GOP Reps. Fred Upton (Mich.) and Greg Walden (Ore.), the leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its top telecom panel, respectively. And the company reported having an additional $850,000 on hand to spend on campaigns at the beginning of January, according to disclosures to the Federal Election Commission.

( Also on POLITICO: Full technology policy coverage)

Cohen bundled more than $500,000 for President Barack Obama in 2012. And the company employs well-known Washington names like Meredith Atwell Baker, a former FCC commissioner who joined the company after Comcast won regulatory approval for its NBC deal.

Those D.C. connections will be put to use as the company presses for approval of the Time Warner Cable deal. Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus, in a note to investors Thursday, predicted “intense antitrust/regulatory scrutiny, and even some resistance” to the merger.

The FCC by law will review the deal’s effects on consumers, while the Justice Department or Federal Trade Commission will lead the antitrust portion of the inquiry. Congress, meanwhile, will surely get into the game — big mergers tend to pique the interest of lawmakers on key antitrust committees. Already, the House’s and Senate’s antitrust-focused committees have pledged hearings.

Comcast’s strategy with the NBC Universal merger gives some indication of what to expect in the months ahead.

During that period, the company bulked up its D.C. operation, hiring five outside lobby firms just to focus on the NBC merger alone. It spent more than $17 million talking to lawmakers and regulators from the beginning of 2010 until the end of the first quarter of 2011. The deal was approved January of that year.

To push for approval of the NBC deal, Comcast collected signatures from congressional Democrats and Republicans for a letter criticizing the federal government for conducting a slow review. The company assembled a “target list” of lawmakers and trade groups to seek public support for the transaction. And the company’s donations in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles — a four-year period, in which the NBC deal fell in the middle — saw the company contribute more than $7 million to lawmakers’ reelection campaigns.

“I think whenever you have a company trying to get its way in Washington, one of the tried and true ways is giving a ton of money,” said Bill Allison, editorial director of the Sunlight Foundation. “Comcast has proven to be very adept at this.”