DOJ’s antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, has said the president did not tell him what to do. In a press release, Delrahim said that a combined AT&T-Time Warner would “greatly harm American consumers” by hiking television bills and hampering innovation, particularly in online television service. AT&T runs the country’s second largest wireless network and is the biggest provider of traditional satellite and cable TV services. Time Warner owns HBO, CNN, TBS and other networks, as well as the Warner Bros. movie studio. Many had expected government approval of the deal because Obama-era antitrust officials approved a similar deal — Comcast’s purchase of NBCUniversal — in 2011, after imposing restrictions on Comcast’s behavior that were meant to protect consumers.

Source: Washington Post November 21, 2017 05:55 UTC