Hardly had the ink dried on the paper between AT&T and Time Warner in their £85.4 billion agreement than concerns began to be raised.
Unlike the purchase of NBC Universal by Comcast – that has become the poster child of content acquisition deals – there is not the dual content operations that might encroach on European territory.
The acquisition would unite Time Warner’s content brands including HBO, CNN, Turner Broadcasting and of course the Warner Bros Hollywood studio with the telephone company that as owner of DirecTV already holds the world’s largest pay-TV subscriber base.
But in an election year the call from the Atlantic has been as to how the consumer fared following that purchase and what might be the impact this time around.
Will there for example be any sweetheart deals when it comes to placing Warner Bros content – which includes the Harry Potter franchise – onto AT&T’s 100 million-subscriber DirecTV? Disney, rumoured to be ready to bid for Netflix, will no doubt be watching.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has already said he would not permit the deal to go ahead should he be elected while Credit Suisse anticipated a “lengthy review” before the deal could proceed.
Meanwhile, BITG Analyst Rich Greenfield said one thing was clear, prices weren’t about to go down.
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“There may not be dramatic harm, but it’s certainly hard to find clear benefit,” thanks @tarbel https://t.co/gT1jMjflAn pic.twitter.com/fbCVrur0O3
— Rich Greenfield (@RichBTIG) October 23, 2016
