The station group and owner of DirecTV and U-Verse cannot come to terms on a new retransmission consent pack and so exchanging harsh words on their website in battle for hearts and minds of consumers.
WNEM In Retrans Standoff With AT&T, DirecTV
Meredith-owned WNEM has yet to work out a retransmission consent agreement with AT&T and DirecTV, and the station has told viewers that if a deal hasn’t been struck by Sept. 21, it won’t be available to those subscribers.
AT&T Inc. is exploring options for its Digital Life home security business, including selling it, as it seeks to pay down debt following its planned $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc., people familiar with the matter say. The divestiture would mark a reversal for AT&T, which entered the U.S. home security market with the introduction of Digital Life in 2013. The service offers customers sensors and cameras so they can monitor their homes and pets on their phones.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the government review of AT&T Inc.’s $85 billion takeover of Time Warner Inc. has reached an advanced stage, people close to the situation said, a significant milestone in a deal that was closely watched for signs of how the Trump administration would view large mergers. WSJ subscribers can read the full story here.
“Investment in content is going to increase,” says John Stankey in his first interview since being named to oversee HBO, Warner Bros. and CNN as he reveals AT&T’s post-merger synergy strategy, Peter Chernin’s potential role and the top priority for making a mark in showbiz: “We’re going to have to earn our way in.”
There are rumblings at the highest executive levels that AT&T’s top executives are considering divesting some Time Warner assets — including news organization CNN and celebrity gossip site TMZ — after they merge.
Exclusives
AT&T said Friday it would launch an advertising and analytics unit led by a senior Madison Avenue media-buying executive Brian Lesser — the latest hint of the plans the telecommunications giant has for its pending $85.4 billion purchase of Time Warner Inc.
Randall Stephenson will remain chief executive, while Chief Strategy Officer John Donovan steps up to run consumer units, including mobile, DirecTV, streaming service DirecTV Now and AT&T U-Verse. John Stankey, who has been running DirecTV, will oversee Time Warner.
U.S. antitrust officials have started talking to representatives from AT&T and Time Warner about possible conditions that could secure approval of their $85.4 billion tie-up, according to people familiar with the matter. The early-stage discussions suggest that government lawyers have nearly finished their months-long look at how AT&T, the biggest pay-TV distributor, would reshape the media landscape with its bid for the owner of CNN and HBO.
AT&T is in talks with Peter Chernin about acquiring the balance of Otter Media, their 3-year-old joint venture, two sources told the New York Post. The move is part of a wider effort by the telecom giant to clean up a host of joint ventures ahead of its expected acquisition of Time Warner, sources said.
Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson will oversee two other “chief executives” who will operate independently — one for telecommunications and one for media. John Stankey, who now leads DirecTV and the entertainment businesses, will head the media division, but without DirecTV. It goes to the telecom side of the company to be headed by John Donovan. The Time Warner acquisition appears to be on track to close by end of the year.
After eight months of scrutiny by the Justice Department’s anti-trust regulators, the fate of the merger is still unclear. Among the reasons: Trump’s nominee to run the DOJ’s anti-trust division is still awaiting Senate confirmation and concerns that White House may weigh in given Trump’s antipathy toward CNN, one of Time Warner’s prized possessions.
CBS News had it wrong when it reported that AT&T’s DirecTV was cheating customers with “bait and switch” tactics and overcharges over the past two years, AT&T told a group of Democratic senators who raised questions about the story. “Contrary to what is suggested in the story, AT&T is fully committed to honoring its deals, offers, and promotions—and AT&T meets that commitment every day.”
The AT&T streaming service continues to bring on affiliates of ABC, NBC and Fox, but still none from CBS. Hang up seems to be inability of the network to come to terms with AT&T on blanket agreement for affils. By the end of August, AT&T says,“almost 70% of U.S. TV households” will have at least one local TV station available on DirecTV Now.
AT&T will look to “neutralize” CNN President Jeff Zucker after it buys Time Warner, the New York Post is reporting. The buzz from the telecommunications giant comes as CNN is being slammed for highly publicized missteps — including botched reports tied to the federal probe of possible collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia, according to three sources familiar with the thinking of AT&T brass.
With AT&T’s core wireless business getting tougher and tougher, the telecom giant has looked to reinvent itself as the model of a next-generation media conglomerate, starting with the $49 billion deal to buy DirecTV in 2015. AT&T is trying to imagine a future where your smartphone is the center of the entertainment universe, and taking active steps to get there. That future, however, is not a sure thing, and AT&T has seen the growth of one of its marquee efforts stall in early 2017.
CEO Randall Stephenson vowed to “make some adjustments” with the marketing of DirecTV after a quarter in which “churn was up significantly” — especially among those who don’t buy it as part of a bundle. He attributed the weakness to competition from streaming services, as well as as cable companies offering with their triple-play offers, combining video, Internet and voice services, he noted. “We continue to be big, big advocates of the integrated bundle.”
Major internet service providers spent more than $11 million on lobbying amid fights over privacy rules and a coming showdown over net neutrality. Three of the largest telecom companies — AT&T, Verizon and Comcast — collectively spent a total of $11.2 million during the first three months of the year, according to congressional disclosure forms filed last week.
AT&T said Monday it would buy Straight Path Communications, a holder of licenses to wireless spectrum, for $1.25 billion in an all-stock deal as it aims to accumulate the airwaves it needs for a next generation network. The deal shows how wireless carriers may be increasingly willing to pay lofty prices for assets they view as critical to 5G, which is expected to boast higher speeds and more capacity.
With the reversal of FCC internet privacy regulations imminent, Comcast, Verizon and AT&T are pledging not to sell their customers’ browsing histories.
The president’s view on the $85.4 billion merger has been quite un-Republican-like, and he wants to keep his campaign promise, which would mean intervening (and stifling CNN nemesis Jeff Zucker).
The U.S. Department of Justice filed court papers on Thursday indicating that it has reached a deal with AT&T and DirecTV to resolve an antitrust lawsuit that accused the companies of sharing information during negotiations to carry SportsNet LA, the regional sports network holding the exclusive rights to telecast live Los Angeles Dodgers games in the L.A. area. The proposed deal contemplates future restrictions on what MVPDs are allowed to exchange with each other.
AT&T is negotiating a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve allegations that DirecTV executives improperly colluded with other pay-TV providers three years ago, effectively blocking carriage of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ television channel in Southern California. A settlement could come in the next two weeks.
John Stankey, the CEO of telecom giant AT&T’s AT&T Entertainment Group, told the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday that “content that is compelling matters” and that the company wants to fully participate in the programming business and not just treat it as “a hobby.”
Top executives at AT&T, in the midst of acquiring Time Warner, are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to curry favor with the White House at the same time CNN’s journalists are putting the president under the Kleig lights.
AT&T said Wednesday that it has attracted more than 200,000 customers for its recently launched video streaming service, DirecTV Now, as the television industry races to keep up with dramatic changes in consumer behavior.
Nielsen and AT&T this morning announced a deal to license “anonymized” set-top-box data from subscribers of AT&T’s DIrecTV and U-Verse services to Nielsen to be used in its local and national TV ratings
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson assured the members of a Senate antitrust panel Wednesday that yes, “We will bring the consumers better price options than what they have today.” He said, though, that it wasn’t possible at this point to separate how much of the anticipated savings would go to customers of the company’s DirectTV, broadband and mobile phone services. Stephenson and Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes made the case that the combined company would push technology forward and lead to more choices for customers.
The CEOs, Randall Stephenson of AT&T and Jeffrey Bewkes of Time Warner, are due to appear today before a Senate antitrust panel whose Republican chairman and senior Democrat have said the proposed $85.4 billion merger of the communications giants would potentially raise significant antitrust issues.
The new streaming service from AT&T that debuts on Wednesday will carry live the owned stations of ABC, NBC and Fox in their entirely within their markets as well as offer the networks’ primetime shows on demand the day after their initial airing. But deals aren’t in place yet to carry the networks’ affiliates. For the time being, subscribers in those markets will have to settle for watching network programs the day after on demand. AT&T exec John Stankey says he’s also working to bring the CBS stations on board, but could live without them.
Next week, AT&T Inc. is leaping into online streaming with DirecTV Now, but it’s taking the plunge without CBS Corp., the most popular TV network and the lone holdout for the service among the top media companies, according to people familiar with the matter.
Striking an unusual three-way deal, AT&T, Dish Network and WPP Group have announced plans to acquire ad-technology company Invidi Technologies. Invidi, which provides media companies with addressable TV advertising platforms, will continue operating independently under the three companies’ ownership.
Fox programming available to DirecTV Now customers will include: Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FX, FXX, FXM, FS 1, FS 2, Big Ten Network, 18 Fox regional sports networks, National Geographic and Nat Geo Wild. The parties have also agreed on a framework for Fox Broadcasting Co. programming to be delivered to DirecTV Now customers nationwide.
Time Warner has dozens of FCC licenses for satellite dishes used to distribute CNN newscasts, Cartoon Network shows and Turner Sports games. Transferring them to AT&T would trigger a review by the FCC, and the company is looking for ways to avoid that, according to a person familiar with the situation. Otherwise, the $85.4 billion deal could be exposed to an agency that’s been a graveyard for mergers.
AT&T’s pricing arrangement for its upcoming DirecTV Now streaming service might “obstruct competition and harm consumers,” the head of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunication Bureau says in a letter seeking information about the much ballyhooed plan.
AT&T has responded to a bombshell lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department accusing the conglomerate’s DirecTV unit of orchestrating an illegal campaign to block wide carriage of regional sports network SportsNet LA, home of the L.A. Dodgers. “We respect the DOJ’s important role in protecting consumers, but in this case, which occurred before AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV, we see the facts differently,” said David McAtee, AT&T general counsel.
