CNBC: AT&T Announces $43 Billion Deal To Merge WarnerMedia With Discovery
If approved by regulators, the deal effectively reverses AT&T’s years-long plan to combine content and distribution in a vertically integrated company.
The Hollywood streaming wars have just seen a major escalation as telecom behemoth AT&T has agreed to merge its WarnerMedia content group with Discovery. The combination of Warner’s assets, which includes HBO, CNN, TBS, TNT and hugely popular franchises such as Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and the DC Comics library of superheroes, together with Discovery’s vast library of channels such as Animal Planet, TLC and the Discovery Channel is seen as a viable competitor to Disney and Netflix.
It’s also a signal that AT&T is throwing in the towel on its grand plans for the perfect media company.
Three years ago, AT&T Inc. marched into Hollywood with big ambitions to be a 21st century media colossus, connecting its booming cell phone business with legendary media properties.
Now, the company is retreating from those plans.https://t.co/WWMhsbJpjZ
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 17, 2021
