A mega-merger between AT&T and Time Warner, which could come as early as this weekend, would create a “media colossus” at the expense of customers and fair competition, watchdogs warned on Saturday.
The companies are reportedly in “advanced talks” for AT&T to acquire Time Warner—thus taking over CNN, HBO, TBS, TNT, and Warner Brothers, among other properties—at a time when federal regulators and lawmakers are beginning to respond to consumer demands for programming diversity and safeguards against discrimination.
According to anonymous insiders, Time Warner is asking AT&T to pay $90 a share, which would put the price of the deal at around $70 billion—one of the largest of the year, out-pricing even Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto, which opponents have referred to as a “five-alarm threat.”