AT&T’s proposed $85-billion purchase of Time Warner is encountering stiff resistance from the Department of Justice, which is pressuring the companies to sell Time Warner’s news channel, CNN, to win approval of the deal.
The opposition — which some analysts called “unprecedented” — threatens to scuttle a massive media deal.
If Hillary Clinton had been elected president, this week’s news that the Department of Justice was seeking tough remedies from AT&T before allowing it to take over Time Warner would have been lauded by consumer campaigners and condemned by pro-business Republicans.
President Trump, who has repeatedly derided CNN's coverage of his administration as "fake news," has loomed over the deal since the companies announced it.
The Justice Department has informed AT&T that it will oppose the company's planned $85-billion merger unless it sells off CNN — a network frequently derided by President Trump.
As if the imminent threat to Net Neutrality were not bad enough, Free Press and other organizations are also reiterating the urgent need to preserve the Lifeline program.
The Justice Department is requesting that AT&T-Time Warner sell off Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting, which includes CNN, before it would clear the merger.
Reports from <em>The New York Times</em>, CNN and other outlets, citing unidentified people, said the Justice Department wants to require the companies to sell Turner Broadcasting, which houses CNN, TBS and TNT; or to sell satellite TV provider DIRECTV, which AT&T bought in 2015.
What would happen if the politician you love to hate was indicted, but your local news didn’t report it? No newspaper stories, no TV news, no radio news on the hour, nothing.
Couldn’t happen? Think again.