Hasta La Creative!

As the company prepares to defend its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable at a Senate hearing this week, some obvious questions require answers.

If its acquisition of Time Warner Cable is approved, Comcast will become much more than a regional cable company, says its chief executive, Brian Roberts.

The Justice Department official, William Baer, represented NBCUniversal during its takeover by Comcast and is therefore forbidden from considering the merger.

Comcast and Netflix announced an agreement Sunday in which Netflix will pay Comcast for faster and more reliable access to Comcast’s subscribers.

After a court ruling last month, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission will propose new rules to encourage equal access to the web.

With Comcast proposing to buy Time Warner Cable, other companies that own cable networks are watching nervously, and may look to consolidate.

With the Time Warner Cable deal, Comcast would not only lock up 30 percent of the cable market, but pricing leverage in all directions — with customers, networks and over-the-web providers like Netflix.

Comcast was not intensely engaged with Time Warner Cable until about 10 days or so prior to the announcement of the $45 billion acquisition, according to Comcast’s chief.

Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider and the owner of NBCUniversal, increased its net income 26 percent, to $1.9 billion, compared with a year ago.

Time Warner is joining other media conglomerates in pushing to compartmentalize their publishing units during a fragile time for the industry.