Cable giant Comcast is planning to drop its plans to acquire Time Warner Cable in a $45.2bn deal.

According to Bloomberg News, sources familiar with the matter said that regulators had agreed that the deal would not help consumers, which would bring the approval process to a halt and that the Justice Department staff has been leaning against the deal.

When the deal was first announced back in February last year, it immediately generated heavy opposition from consumers, lawmakers and regulators who were concerned about the amount of power it would give one company in pay-TV and internet services.

If the merger was successful, Comcast would own around 30% of the US pay-TV market and 57% of the broadband market.

The Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal, first announced back in February last year, was expected to be finalised by the Comcast board yesterday (23 April).

A formal statement is yet to be released.