Charter is the product of the 2016 merger of three cable companies, each with a decades-long history in the business: Legacy Charter, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. The firm now holds networks capable of providing television, internet access, and phone services to roughly 59 million US homes and businesses, around 35% of the country. Across this footprint, Charter serves 29 million residential and 2 million commercial customer accounts under the Spectrum brand, making it the second-largest US cable company behind Comcast. The firm also owns, in whole or in part, sports and news networks, including Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles Lakers), SportsNet LA (Los Angeles Dodgers), SportsNet New York (New York Mets), and Spectrum News NY1. Charter plans to acquire cable peer Cox.