AT&T and Time Warner have agreed to an $85 billion deal

[Draz]

Source

The move, announced Saturday evening, will help AT&T expand beyond wireless and Internet service into programming. Time Warner (TWX) is the parent of CNN, TNT, HBO, the Warner Bros. studio, and other channels and websites.

AT&T (T, Tech30), which dates back to the invention of the telephone in 1876, is one of the country's largest providers of wireless phone and Internet service. It also recently acquired the DirecTV satellite TV business.
The deal will be subject to a review by government regulators that could take more than a year to complete.

AT&T will pay $107.50 a share -- a big premium over where Time Warner stock was trading last week. Including Time Warner's debt, the deal's value is $109 billion.

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AT&T-Time Warner is a union of programming and distribution.

On a conference call with the media, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said the two companies have been in talks since August. The two met in New York for a "periodic check-in ... and the more we talked, the more the deal fell in place," Bewkes said.

"We have a very common view of the world," Stephenson added. "This thing just had what we called gravity. We started negotiating terms very quickly."
Word of the possible deal leaked out on Thursday; AT&T executives were said to be eager to finish the talks before the market opens on Monday morning.

Why AT&T wants Time Warner

Adding Time Warner will help AT&T to diversify its business beyond wireless phone and Internet services. Stephenson has spoken publicly about his desire to own valuable programming.

Gaining Time Warner will give AT&T entry into entertainment, news and sports.

Time Warner includes everything from "Game of Thrones," on HBO, to "Anderson Cooper 360," on CNN, to "The Big Bang Theory," produced by Warner Bros., to March Madness basketball games, aired by several Turner cable channels.

With HBO and CNN on one side of the company, and wireless on the other side, AT&T will have more power to shape the future of media.
AT&T said in its announcement that "the future of mobile is video, and the future of video is mobile."

The deal will also keep Time Warner out of the hands of AT&T's huge rivals, including Verizon, (VZ, Tech30) Comcast (CCV), and Apple (AAPL, Tech30).
Bewkes will remain Time Warner CEO during the regulatory review. Afterward, he'll stay on to "ensure a smooth transition," he told reporters.

[Draz]

Source

Donald Trump rips into possible AT&T-Time Warner deal

"As an example of the power structure I'm fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few," Trump said during a speech on Saturday.

AT&T and Time Warner are reportedly in advanced talks about a potential deal. No acquisition has been confirmed yet, but an announcement could be imminent. (Time Warner is the parent company of CNN.)
Any merger would have to be reviewed and approved by federal antitrust regulators.

Trump also said that if he is elected, his administration would look at breaking up the 2011 merger of Comcast and NBCUniversal.

The comments shocked some regulatory experts. Republicans are usually supportive of mergers and acquisitions while Democrats are generally more skeptical.

But Trump's pledge to block the possible AT&T-Time Warner (TWX) transaction breaks with precedent and places him far to the left of President Obama, whose administration approved the Comcast (CCV) deal with numerous conditions.

"It is wholly inappropriate for a president (or a candidate) to tell the attorney general how to decide a case before the Justice Department has a chance to make a recommendation," Andrew Jay Schwartzman, an attorney who specializes in telecommunications and media policy, told CNNMoney.
Related: Trump makes closing argument and blasts accusers
Trump's comments came in the context of an anti-media tirade. The GOP nominee has been fiercely critical of what he says is biased news coverage of his campaign.

On Saturday, he said "they're trying desperately to suppress my vote and the voice of the American people."

So he took aim at the companies, channeling a media critique made by Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary.

First he blasted the potential AT&T-Time Warner deal, which was met with applause by his supporters in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Then he complained about Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and the owner of the Washington Post.

Trump wrongly said that Amazon "through its ownership controls the Washington Post."

In fact, Bezos owns the Post separately from his role at Amazon, though some partnerships between the two entities have been forged.

Maybe not coincidentally, Bezos slammed Trump earlier this week, accusing the candidate of "eroding our democracy."

Trump on Saturday renewed his attack against Amazon for not paying higher amounts of taxes.

The candidate also said Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal "concentrates far too much power in one massive entity that is trying to tell the voters what to think and what to do."

To applause, Trump said, "Deals like this destroy democracy."

NBC has been in Trump's crosshairs lately because a unit of the company, "Access Hollywood," found an old videotape of Trump talking in vulgar terms about sexual assault. The tape was leaked to the Washington Post earlier this month.

Trump said of Comcast-NBCUniversal, "We'll look at breaking that deal up, and other deals like that. This should never, ever have been approved in the first place."

The deal was approved, with some restrictions, by the Obama administration in 2011.

[senelcoolidge]

Too much power in one person/groups hand. I think Trump said that he would not allow this.

[bdreason]

Companies this large should not be allowed to merge. I don't care if they're technically in different industries.

[NumberSix]

Donald Trump rips into possible AT&T-Time Warner deal

"As an example of the power structure I'm fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few," Trump said during a speech on Saturday.

AT&T and Time Warner are reportedly in advanced talks about a potential deal. No acquisition has been confirmed yet, but an announcement could be imminent. (Time Warner is the parent company of CNN.)
Any merger would have to be reviewed and approved by federal antitrust regulators.

Trump also said that if he is elected, his administration would look at breaking up the 2011 merger of Comcast and NBCUniversal.

The comments shocked some regulatory experts. Republicans are usually supportive of mergers and acquisitions while Democrats are generally more skeptical.

But Trump's pledge to block the possible AT&T-Time Warner (TWX) transaction breaks with precedent and places him far to the left of President Obama, whose administration approved the Comcast (CCV) deal with numerous conditions.

"It is wholly inappropriate for a president (or a candidate) to tell the attorney general how to decide a case before the Justice Department has a chance to make a recommendation," Andrew Jay Schwartzman, an attorney who specializes in telecommunications and media policy, told CNNMoney.
Related: Trump makes closing argument and blasts accusers
Trump's comments came in the context of an anti-media tirade. The GOP nominee has been fiercely critical of what he says is biased news coverage of his campaign.

On Saturday, he said "they're trying desperately to suppress my vote and the voice of the American people."

So he took aim at the companies, channeling a media critique made by Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary.

First he blasted the potential AT&T-Time Warner deal, which was met with applause by his supporters in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Then he complained about Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and the owner of the Washington Post.

Trump wrongly said that Amazon "through its ownership controls the Washington Post."

In fact, Bezos owns the Post separately from his role at Amazon, though some partnerships between the two entities have been forged.

Maybe not coincidentally, Bezos slammed Trump earlier this week, accusing the candidate of "eroding our democracy."

Trump on Saturday renewed his attack against Amazon for not paying higher amounts of taxes.

The candidate also said Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal "concentrates far too much power in one massive entity that is trying to tell the voters what to think and what to do."

To applause, Trump said, "Deals like this destroy democracy."

NBC has been in Trump's crosshairs lately because a unit of the company, "Access Hollywood," found an old videotape of Trump talking in vulgar terms about sexual assault. The tape was leaked to the Washington Post earlier this month.

Trump said of Comcast-NBCUniversal, "We'll look at breaking that deal up, and other deals like that. This should never, ever have been approved in the first place."

The deal was approved, with some restrictions, by the Obama administration in 2011.

This is one of those weird political intersections where Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders sound like the same person.

[ILLsmak]

Too much power in one person/groups hand. I think Trump said that he would not allow this.

Another thing I agree w/ Trump on.

Edit: But I was upset how he made it about himself again when it should have been about the deal, not about biased media (even tho that matters, too.)

-Smak

[senelcoolidge]

Another thing I agree w/ Trump on.

Edit: But I was upset how he made it about himself again when it should have been about the deal, not about biased media (even tho that matters, too.)

-Smak

Trump has a really big ego. He's used to winning and getting things done. Just ignore that if it bothers you. That's superficial. What matters is what he wants to get done. He relates more to Bernie supporters than big money Hillary. There's a reason why she's backed by billionaire's, foreign countries, and wall street. The smarter Bernie supporters will vote Trump.

[Kvnzhangyay]

This is a very exciting deal; would be cool to see how they valued all the different parts of Time Warner

[Long Duck Dong]

So Trump says he absolutely does not approve of this deal and would fight to defeat the merger. Hillary refuses to take a hard stance on this deal, with TW being a huge donor to her campaign.

Shows you how much of a corporate shill she would be as president.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/where-do...e-at-t-merger/

Notice how mainstream media says "both are skeptical" of deal when Trump is firm against it and Hillary refuses to take stance. Pathetic.

[Hawker]

I really doubt this will go through. The DOJ have already blocked a suit of two oilfield service majors that pretty much did the same thing.

[dunksby]

Next up, Coke is gonna buy Pepsi followed by Amazon, ebay and Paypal merging.

[highwhey]

This would be outright disastrous for their customers. We already have ISP's charging out the ass for internet despite lacking a proper infrastructure and providing poor internet speeds.

[rufuspaul]

So Trump says he absolutely does not approve of this deal and would fight to defeat the merger. Hillary refuses to take a hard stance on this deal, with TW being a huge donor to her campaign.

Shows you how much of a corporate shill she would be as president.

Yup

[qrich]

Didn't Charter buy-out Time Warner (& Bright House) already?

[dazzer87]

Didn't Charter buy-out Time Warner (& Bright House) already?

thats a different TW (ISP) vs. this TW.