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AT&T announces merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery
https://justthenews.com ^ | Updated: May 17, 2021 - 8:16am | Staff

Posted on 05/17/2021 6:52:50 AM PDT by Red Badger

AT&T says it will receive an $43 billion in a combination of cash and debt

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AT&T said Monday the U.S. telecommunication giant has reached a deal to combine its content unit, WarnerMedia, with Discovery, an agreement that would help the major Hollywood studios compete with such rivals as Netflix and Disney.

AT&T says it will receive an $43 billion in a combination of cash, debt and WarnerMedia’s retention of certain debt, according to CNBC.

The deal, if approved by regulators, effectively reverses AT&T’s years-long plan to combine content and distribution in a vertically integrated company.

The deal would create a new business, separate from AT&T, that could be valued at as much as $150 billion, including debt, according to The Financial Times.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: att; mediamerger; monopoly; warnerbros; wb
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1 posted on 05/17/2021 6:52:50 AM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

Enough mof these giant corporate media mergers. They’re consolidating globalist anti-freedom power.


2 posted on 05/17/2021 7:03:06 AM PDT by Basket_of_Deplorables (Convention Of States is our only hope now!)
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To: Basket_of_Deplorables
Enough mof these giant corporate media mergers.

Agreed, we want more competition not less.

3 posted on 05/17/2021 7:06:03 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Red Badger

CNN will now be run under the same umbrella as Discovery, HGTV, Food Network and many other popular channels.


4 posted on 05/17/2021 7:06:12 AM PDT by Renfrew
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To: Red Badger

Makes sense to separate content creation into a standalone (or not) business.


5 posted on 05/17/2021 7:06:30 AM PDT by bigbob
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To: Red Badger

Makes sense to separate content creation into a standalone (or not) business.


6 posted on 05/17/2021 7:06:51 AM PDT by bigbob
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To: Red Badger

AT&T with the Discovery acquisition will become a totally “woke” entity, as is Discovery.


7 posted on 05/17/2021 7:12:30 AM PDT by Wuli
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To: Red Badger

I see vertical integration as another aspect of monopoly practices, and I note that the classical philosopher of “Capitalism”, Adam Smith, was no fan of monopolies and not merely because the ones in his day were government creations.


8 posted on 05/17/2021 7:15:15 AM PDT by Wuli
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To: Basket_of_Deplorables

Let them drown in debt.


9 posted on 05/17/2021 7:16:00 AM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
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To: Wuli

They’re actually spinning off the merger between Warner and discovery into a separate company, making AT&T more like the old AT&T focusing on connectivity rather than content creation. It will also reduce their debt burden.

This is basically an admission that their initial purchase of Warner was a big mistake, which it definitely was. The market is very happy with this move.


10 posted on 05/17/2021 7:24:09 AM PDT by aquila48 (o not let them make you care! Guilting you is how they control you. )
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To: bigbob
This is great, there are many competitors for content and streaming. It make no sense to have AT&T offer streaming services. AT&T strength is the large Fiber Route network to deliver the internet. AT&T has the largest Fiber Route network to deliver internet in the USA, so stick to their strength and stay out of a high cost, competitive business that appears to have peaked. No one will be able to compete with AT&T, the money, time, permits and etc to start laying fiber or installing 5G to reach customers is very difficult for a new entry.

Bottom line, many streaming services but limited options to get those services to the end user.

AT&T stock went up on the news.......

11 posted on 05/17/2021 7:29:03 AM PDT by Lockbox
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To: aquila48

Both of these companies have a horrible track record on mergers. AT&T’s purchase of DirectTV and the AOL-TimeWarner merger destroyed more shareholder value than just about any other deals in history.

Investors need to rein in these CEOs and their empire building fantasies.


12 posted on 05/17/2021 7:32:03 AM PDT by Renfrew
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To: Renfrew
"CNN will now be run under the same umbrella as Discovery, HGTV, Food Network and many other popular channels."

I mean, it is the strangest, dumbest buy, to take all these Last Century cable channels with no real live streamers -- Discovery+ is a bad joke -- and no real "fit" with HBOMax.

The reason Zucker is staying is that he is probably re-imagining all these cable-cord channels as 24/7 'woke' stations with Maoist programming.

Which is interesting because he's decided to do a face plant rather than leave on top. Which means none of the studios were ready to hire him, and he had to stay to have contact with any spending money for production.

13 posted on 05/17/2021 7:41:31 AM PDT by StAnDeliver (Eric Coomer of Dominion Voting Systems Is The Blue Dress)
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To: StAnDeliver
"The reason Zucker is staying is that he is probably re-imagining all these cable-cord channels as 24/7 'woke' stations with Maoist programming."

Think about this for a moment -- Zucker starts stuffing these channels with new woke crap and abandons the vault model, he'll have to give it away, which means putting the revenue hurt on still-corded Charter, Comcast, Dish, Verizon, and of course ATT!

14 posted on 05/17/2021 7:47:50 AM PDT by StAnDeliver (Eric Coomer of Dominion Voting Systems Is The Blue Dress)
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To: StAnDeliver
Discovery+ is a bad joke
I cancelled my "free" subscription after 3 days
15 posted on 05/17/2021 7:54:32 AM PDT by lewislynn ( How long before they replace Martin Luther King Blvd with George Floyd Blvd?)
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To: Renfrew

“Both of these companies have a horrible track record on mergers. AT&T’s purchase of DirectTV and the AOL-TimeWarner merger destroyed more shareholder value than just about any other deals in history.”

True, but it seems like AT&T may have learned its lesson. They’re going back to what they were. With a 6% dividend may bot be a bad time to buy some.


16 posted on 05/17/2021 8:29:51 AM PDT by aquila48 (o not let them make you care! Guilting you is how they control you. )
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To: Wuli

3-2-1... to documentaries on gay polar bears and reality TV shows about tranny nuns and gender confused toddlers.


17 posted on 05/17/2021 8:44:21 AM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: Red Badger
...and the Dinosaur Media DeathwatchTM continues. Live broadcast video has been dying for decades but has accelerated over the last five years.

You wouldn't recognize the Discovery lineup; it's "reality TV meets 8th grade video project". Who would record that to watch later or select it from a menu that contains everything and anything else?

18 posted on 05/17/2021 8:50:32 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: Red Badger

Standard oil calls lawyers say about this distribution in a vertically integrated company business.


19 posted on 05/17/2021 8:57:56 AM PDT by Vaduz (women and children to be impacIQ of chimpsted the most.)
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To: aquila48

at $30.00 a share Att might be a good buy now


20 posted on 05/17/2021 3:02:42 PM PDT by markman46 (engage brain before using keyboard!!!)
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