"Fans will be glued to the “March Madness” college basketball tournament as the joint owner of rights for the games, Time Warner Inc, goes before a judge on Thursday to defend a proposed takeover by AT&T Inc. With some 12 million viewers per game last year, the NCAA tournament exemplifies the marquee programming the U.S. government argues will become more expensive if Time Warner is bought by AT&T, the biggest pay-TV provider via subsidiary DirecTV.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in November to stop AT&T, which has some 25 million pay-TV subscribers, from closing the $85 billion deal. AT&T says a merger benefits consumers by creating efficiencies.
If the government loses, that could open up the field for similar tie-ups between distributors and content providers. But a win could strengthen the hand of antitrust regulators looking at other, similarly structured mergers."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-timewarner-m-a-at-t/future-of-tv-in-balance-as-att-time-warner-plead-merger-case-idUSKBN1GY15J
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in November to stop AT&T, which has some 25 million pay-TV subscribers, from closing the $85 billion deal. AT&T says a merger benefits consumers by creating efficiencies.
If the government loses, that could open up the field for similar tie-ups between distributors and content providers. But a win could strengthen the hand of antitrust regulators looking at other, similarly structured mergers."
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-timewarner-m-a-at-t/future-of-tv-in-balance-as-att-time-warner-plead-merger-case-idUSKBN1GY15J