FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has at least three votes, including his own, to conditionally approve the Charter-Time Warner Cable merger, according to a source familiar with the vote, who confirmed that Democratic commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Republican Michael O'Rielly had voted to approve the proposal. O'Rielly's was a partial approval, partial dissent, an FCC source confirmed, but that goes down in the books as a yes.

By day's end, commissioner Ajit Pai, the senior Republican, had voted against the deal, but not because he did not think the two companies should be able to get together.

“The FCC’s merger review process is badly broken," said a Pai spokesperson. "Chairman Wheeler’s order isn’t about competition, competition, competition; it’s about regulation, regulation, regulation.  It's about imposing conditions that have nothing to do with the merits of this transaction.  It’s about the government micromanaging the Internet economy.” 

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn had not voted the deal at midafternoon. If that is still  the case, Clyburn has some more time to vote before the majority would rule and approval granted without her vote, though the chairman could grant extra time if she needed it.

Once an item has three votes, it is in "must vote" status, which means the other commissioners have two weeks to vote, plus a week's extension that is customarily granted, then the chairman would have to extend that or it would be de facto approved.

Reuters first reported the two other votes had been cast; Wheeler cast his earlier.

Wheeler circulated the conditioned approval on March 25, which signaled to most he felt he had the votes to approve it. But there had been some pushback from deal critics.

What was unclear was how the votes would shake out, including whether or not Wheeler would get five votes--he didn't--and whether or not a Democratic or Republican might balk--at least one did--at approving the deal and how many conditions were put on it. 

Clyburn has been lobbied hard for stronger diversity conditions, for example, while another group was expressing concerns about the broadband buildout conditions and the overbuilding that would represent.

Charter Communications said the timing of a letter that went out to Tennessee legislators offering them free airtime for public service announcements (PSAs) only a day after a state House bill that would have expanded municipal broadband was defeated was not linked to that defeat.

Cable operators have been critical of municipal broadband expansions as opportunities to unfairly cross-subsidize their buildouts, to fund municipal overbuilds, or leave taxpayers holding the bag for failed buildouts.

[RELATED STORY: Wheeler seen as likely to circulate Charter-TWC merger approval order soon.] 

The timing of the PSA invites would clearly have been impolitic optics if it were a calculated move. Charters says it was not. "The timing was nothing more than a coincidence.”

Charter was responding to a story on timesfreepress.com about its opposition to the bill and the PSA effort. 

"Right now it would appear to those watching from the outside that big business won and big business is now reciprocating," Rep. Kevin Brooks, R-Cleveland, was quoted in the story as saying.

“The planning of these PSAs began well before the vote on the municipal broadband bill and the invitation was sent to all lawmakers within our footprint – including the bill’s sponsor -- regardless of their views on that bill," said Charter.

The bill was defeated only a couple of days before the state of Tennessee faced off with the FCC in federal court over the issue of municipal broadband buildouts. 

New York -- Charter Communications Friday pledged to create a chief diversity officer and add more minorities to its board of directors as part of a memorandum of understanding it signed with a dozen civic organizations serving communities of color. 

As part of the MOU, Charter – which is waiting on the FCC to approve its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable and, in some quarters, facing off against skepticism from programming companies – has agreed to appoint an African-American, Asian-American/Pacific-Islander and one Hispanic American to its newly formed board of directors once the merger is complete. Charter also said it will appoint a chief diversity officer to head its diversity and inclusion efforts.

Charter CEO Tom Rutledge -- who Friday, in a symbolic ceremony on Dr. Martin Luther King’s actual birth date, signed the MOU along with leaders from the Action Network, the National Urban League, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Council Of La Raza -- told Multichannel News that the company is proud of its diversity efforts but pledges to do more the deal is complete, making it the second-biggest U.S. TV provider. 

“While we are committed to [diversity] today, we will be a much bigger, more high-profile kind of organization so we will make a public commitment to diversity with binding obligations on us,” Rutledge said.

The Action Network head the Rev. Al Sharpton praised Rutledge and Charter’s commitment to diversity, but said he and the other organizations will keep a close eye on whether the company keeps its word.

“This is an historic agreement and it will set a precedent as to what must happen in the media world as we continue to see these mergers,” Sharpton told Multichannel News. “We intend to hold them to it.” 

The full list of diversity groups signing the MOU include the National Urban League, National Action Network, National Council of La Raza, League of United Latin American Citizens, National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, SER-National, Hispanic Federation, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), Asian Pacific American Advocates (OCA), Media Action Network for Asian Americans, East West Players, and the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.

 For more from Rutledge, Sharpton and the event, including video, see Multichannel News and multichannel.com on Tuesday (following the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday).