AT&T Announces Plans to Buy Time Warner

By

AT&T over the weekend revealed plans to purchase Time Warner Inc. in a deal valued at more than $85 billion, driving down both of their stocks and drawing comment from the Clinton and Trump presidential campaigns.

The $107.50 per share deal, if it passes regulatory muster, will provide AT&T with a broad array of high-value content from the world’s largest film/TV studio, which the network operator could deliver over its various networks and to an array of customer endpoints. That includes content from HBO, including Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, True Detective, Veep, and much more. Time Warner also owns the Turner TV properties, which includes Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, CNN, TBS, and TNT; rights to March Madness, MLB, and NBA; and digital and over-the-top brands including Bleacher Report, CNN.com, Fandago, and Hulu. Warner Bros. is also part of the Time Warner family and includes entertainment television (such as Big Bang Theory), feature films (including the DC Comics and Harry Potter series), home video, and videogame businesses.

“Premium content always wins,” commented AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson. “It has been true on the big screen, the TV screen, and now it’s proving true on the mobile screen. We’ll have the world’s best premium content with the networks to deliver it to every screen. A big customer pain point is paying for content once but not being able to access it on any device, anywhere. Our goal is to solve that.”

For its part, AT&T has wireline and wireless networks that deliver data, telephone, and video services in the U.S.; a mobile network in Mexico; and TV assets in Latin America. The company notes that it expects to use its technological experience and vast resources to do analysis in an effort to provide more relevant content to customers and introduce new business models, including ad-supported content.

Stocks of both companies dropped following the announcement of their planned combination – with AT&T’s down 2 percent and Time Warner’s falling off 3 percent. Meanwhile, both Clinton and Trump camps expressed concern that the pairing of these two media giants will provide the resulting company with too much power and lead to less competition.

Despite such concerns, however, combinations of giant content companies and network operators seem to be a growing trend. Comcast and NBC came together in 2011, Verizon and AOL joined forces in 2015, and Verizon earlier this year announced plans to buy Yahoo.




Edited by Alicia Young
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]

Executive Editor, TMC

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Related Articles

ChatGPT Isn't Really AI: Here's Why

By: Contributing Writer    4/17/2024

ChatGPT is the biggest talking point in the world of AI, but is it actually artificial intelligence? Click here to find out the truth behind ChatGPT.

Read More

Revolutionizing Home Energy Management: The Partnership of Hub Controls and Four Square/TRE

By: Reece Loftus    4/16/2024

Through a recently announced partnership with manufacturer Four Square/TRE, Hub Controls is set to redefine the landscape of home energy management in…

Read More

4 Benefits of Time Tracking Software for Small Businesses

By: Contributing Writer    4/16/2024

Time tracking is invaluable for every business's success. It ensures teams and time are well managed. While you can do manual time tracking, it's time…

Read More

How the Terraform Registry Helps DevOps Teams Increase Efficiency

By: Contributing Writer    4/16/2024

A key component to HashiCorp's Terraform infrastructure-as-code (IaC) ecosystem, the Terraform Registry made it to the news in late 2023 when changes …

Read More

Nightmares, No More: New CanineAlert Device for Service Dogs Helps Reduce PTSD for Owners, Particularly Veterans

By: Alex Passett    4/11/2024

Canine Companions, a nonprofit organization that transforms the lives of veterans (and others) suffering PTSD with vigilant service dogs, has debuted …

Read More