Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

AT&T Completes $85 Billion Time Warner Acquisition (axios.com)

Posted by msmash on from the done-deal dept.

AT&T on Thursday evening said that it has completed its $85 billion purchase of Time Warner, just two days after a judge ruled that the deal, originally announced two years ago, could proceed over objections from U.S. antitrust regulators. From a report: The Department of Justice did not file for an emergency stay of the judge's ruling, per the judge's request, but still reserves the right to appeal. In a statement, Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive of AT&T said moving forward his company will bring a fresh approach to how the media and entertainment industry works for consumers, content creators, distributors and advertisers. "The content and creative talent at Warner Bros., HBO and Turner are first-rate. Combine all that with AT&T's strengths in direct-to-consumer distribution, and we offer customers a differentiated, high-quality, mobile-first entertainment experience," he said.

9 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. Been there, Done that... by Etcetera · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... Got the T-shirt:
    https://slashdot.org/story/00/01/10/0816250/aol-and-time-warner-confirm-merger-plans

    Also, these Slashdot pull quotes in the Washington Post are awesome:

    In one virtual gathering place for technology buffs yesterday--the Slashdot Web site--Managing Editor Robin Miller kicked off a rollicking debate over the merger with this screed: "Now you'll be able to get all your Internet needs, from connectivity to content to shopping, delivered by a single experienced company. No more need to deal with Web sites that stray from the party line, take risks . . . or any of that other messy old-fashioned 'Internet as anarchy' stuff.

    "To get online in the future, all you'll need to do is plug in your computer, turn off your brain, and enjoy!"

    If nothing else, AOL Time Warner will toil in a media environment that's undergoing a whirlwind evolution. No one can say with any certainty, for example, whether in a few years most consumers will go onto the Internet from their televisions, or whether tomorrow's TV viewers will watch their favorite shows on their computer screens.

    What's likely, however, is that high-speed Internet service will soon become a mass-market phenomenon. Access to the Internet via fatter cable lines is about 100 times faster than traditional phone and modem connections. And control over broadband is considered pivotal to the health of both companies, said Mark Berman, an analyst at Mediaweek.com, an online trade publication.

    - https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/01/11/aol-to-acquire-time-warner-in-record-183-billion-merger/92bdb300-0f48-4dfd-ae7e-38d9aec6417a/?utm_term=.d94ff7b431e7

    --
    Hire a Linux system administrator, systems engineer,
  2. Much ado about nothing by alvinrod · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I suspect that this will probably work out about as well as the AOL / Time Warner merger back around 2000. A lot of hullabaloo in the press and middle management from both sides sabotaging the supposed "synergistic experience" that the merger is designed to create over fear of becoming redundant as a result. You'll have executives who might know a fair bit about one field trying to make business decisions in another where they're no more knowledgeable than the average person off the street, and the results are all too predictable.

  3. Up Next by mentil · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As promised, now that the AT&T/Time Warner deal was judge-approved, expect the Sprint/T-mobile deal to move forward. And for Fox to be bought by Disney or Comcast.
    By the time we have flying cars, there'll just be 3 conglomerates that one can work for, Shadowrun-style.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    1. Re:Up Next by youngone · · Score: 4, Insightful

      By the time we have flying cars, there'll just be 3 conglomerates that one can work for, Shadowrun-style.

      That's the end goal of capitalism, unless it is regulated.
      Unfortuntely the corporations own those who appoint the regulators, so guess what is going to happen?
      You could view it as a good thing though, you won't need to go through all the worry and stress of having to choose. There will be one provider of any goods or services you may want.

      That's capitalism at it's most efficient right there.

    2. Re:Up Next by psycho12345 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Which they traded for the worst kind of regulation: Pay Trump, and you can do anything you want. See the multitude of bribes being paid to Cohen, as well as the variety of payments to Trump properties worldwide.

    3. Re:Up Next by barc0001 · · Score: 5, Informative

      What fucking reality are you living in? Because it's not the one where the Trump administration's FCC just approved the merger in the FA over the objections of the Justice Department on the grounds it'll hurt consumers. Or the one where the Trump administration gave 1.5 Trillion in tax breaks to corporations that are busy using it to consolidate, buy up outstanding stock, buy smaller companies and gear up automation to lay people off.

    4. Re:Up Next by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Um... Trump took donations pretty quickly when he started running and he is getting in trouble for using that to pay for his other stuff as well from what I hear just like how he is in trouble using his charity as a slush fund.

      And deregulation isn't always a good thing and overall, Trump seems to be trying to get rid of regulations you want to keep while trying to keep the regulations you want to get rid of. Just going into those details would turn this into a frigging book he is screwing up so much.

    5. Re:Up Next by gtall · · Score: 3, Informative

      Launched the campaign on his own dime? Oh, I expect we'll need to overlook all the pac money he got, the wealthy donors he slimed. About halfway down the page at https://www.opensecrets.org/ne... shows his campaign donors. And his own money was in the form of loans if memory serves correct.

  4. Re:how long to get HBO 4K live on directv? by Snotnose · · Score: 4, Funny

    How fast can you instal Plex on a Pi and learn how to use bittorrent?