With multiple cable operators weighing whether to buy Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), it's probably just a matter of time before consolidation hits the industry. Charter Communications (CHTR 2.04%) and Comcast (CMCSA 1.57%) are both reportedly in talks to snap up all, or even just pieces, of Time Warner. And Charter might have the inside track with an offer it is crafting for Time Warner investors that includes $90 a share in cash.
In the following video, Fool contributor Demitrios Kalogeropoulos points out that cable companies are in a rush to get bigger so that they can counteract the spike in programming costs that's happened over the past few years. However, those costs have risen so fast that it's unlikely that even a huge cable merger would be enough to push down average cable bills, he says.
