That heavily-criticized $45 billion Comcast and Time Warner Cable merger? Well, it looks like it's not going to happen after all. Bloomberg reports that the former company is dropping its bid to acquire the latter, with an official announcement expected as soon as tomorrow. Just yesterday, reports surfaced that the Federal Communications Commission proposed a hearing, serving as the latest sign that the merger could be doomed. It appears that now, despite efforts to lobby support and offer concessions, Comcast will finally give up on bringing over 30 million cable customers under one roof. Much of the criticism has been that deal wouldn't be good for consumers in terms of competition, controlling well over half of US broadband service. In order to be legally blocked by the government, there will need to be a formal hearing, but it looks like both the FCC and Justice Department are ready to do just that. The last time the FCC sent a similar proposal to court was the doomed AT&T/T-Mobile merger a few years back.

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