NEW YORK — Comcast is abandoning its $45.2 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable, according to media reports.

Bloomberg News and The New York Times both said Thursday that the cable company plans to drop the bid after pushback from regulators. They both cited unidentified people with knowledge of the matter.

Comcast may make an announcement as soon as Friday, Bloomberg said. Comcast and Time Warner Cable declined to comment.

Combining the No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. cable companies would put nearly 30 percent of TV and about 55 percent of broadband subscribers under one roof. That would give the resulting behemoth unprecedented power over what Americans watch and download.

That has had competitors, consumer groups, and senators lining up to oppose the deal.

One concern is that the company could undermine the streaming video industry by requiring onerous payments from new online-only video providers for connecting to its network. Dish, the satellite TV company behind the new Web video service Sling TV, and Netflix are opposed to the deal.

Another charge is that Comcast hasn’t stuck to conditions imposed on it when it bought NBCUniversal. The company says it has, except for one circumstance when the FCC found it wasn’t promoting a stand-alone Internet service. Comcast says it fixed that.

Pushback against the merger has picked up in the last couple weeks. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., along with five other Democratic senators and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, this week urged the FCC and the Department of Justice to block the merger, saying it would lead to higher prices and fewer choices.

Recent media reports suggested that regulators aren’t going to approve it. On Friday, Bloomberg said Department of Justice staff attorneys were leaning against the deal. The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday said that FCC staff recommended that the merger review go to a hearing under an administrative law judge, although no final decision had been made.


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