Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
Source: TheDrum
Telecoms giant AT&T has agreed to buy Time Warner for $85.4bn in a deal poised to create one of the world’s largest media companies.
If approved by regulators, the deal will give the US’s second largest wireless telecoms company control of TV channels HBO, CNN and Cartoon Network and film studio Warner Bros, producer of the Batman and Harry Potter film franchises, and therefore access to a wealth of coveted content to stream across its network.
“This is a perfect match of two companies with complementary strengths who can bring a fresh approach to how the media and communications industry works for customers, content creators, distributors and advertisers,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive of AT&T.
But although it was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies on Saturday, the biggest deal in the world this year is expected to face fierce regulatory scrutiny over concerns that such a strong grip on content and its means of delivery could drive up costs and reduce choice for consumers.
Donald Trump, whose presidential campaign has railed against ‘mainstream media’ organisations such as CNN, has already said he will block the deal if he is elected to the White House. “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.”
AT&T, however, has said it does not anticipate the acquisition will be blocked by government and expects the deal to be concluded by the end of 2017.
If it is given the green light, it will mark the most significant step yet in the reinvention of telecoms companies as media behemoths, following Verizon’s $4.8bn deal to acquire Yahoo, AT&T’s own purchase of satellite provider DirecTV and mobile carriers such as Telefonica reimagining themselves as media owners and ad platforms in their own right.
As it said in its own statement on the deal, AT&T wants the new company to “lead the next wave of innovation in converging media and communications industry”.