The Department of Justice is suing to block AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner, legally challenging a $85 billion deal that would give the telecom giant control of a media empire including CNN, Warner Brothers, HBO, and other major media brands.
The DOJ’s case against the merger suggests that together, the companies would control so much of both what people watch and how they watch it, that they could push both competitors and consumers to pay more. AT&T owns nationwide satellite provider DirecTV; Time Warner’s channels also include TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and HBO.
The DOJ is filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, meaning the fate of the merger now rests with a judge.
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