A federal judge ruled in favor of AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner on Tuesday in a decision that is likely to raise the curtain on mega-mergers among the nation's entertainment companies.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon did not impose any conditions that would have prompted AT&T to scuttle the deal, further emboldening legacy Hollywood and telecommunications companies to pair up in an effort to fight deep-pocketed tech rivals such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Google.
Even before the decision, Comcast said it was prepared to bid for 21st Century Fox's assets, signaling a price war with Disney, which agreed to pay $52 billion for the studios that would help Disney offer alternatives to Netflix.
Tuesday’s ruling is a pivotal chapter in a 20-month saga that began in Oct. 2016 when the largest U.S. telecommunications company first reached an agreement to buy Time Warner in a grab for TV and film content that would diversify its mammoth but mature Internet access business.
Time Warner is a hangout for DC Comics' superheroes Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, as well as CNN and HBO, the premium network where Game of Thrones resides, and TNT, which just aired some of the NBA playoffs. AT&T owns pay-TV provider DirecTV alongside its extensive landline, wireless and Internet access businesses.
AT&T argued that a bigger company would benefit consumers because it would allow it to offer more new services, like a cheaper streaming service. General counsel David McAtee said the company looked forward to closing the deal next week "so we can begin to give consumers video entertainment that is more affordable,
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