The stakes were high for both companies. Viacom’s channels aren’t as popular as they once were. The company’s shares slipped 13% this month as investors worried that Viacom would have to make big concessions to remain on AT&T’s television platforms. Meanwhile, DirecTV has been walloped by customer defections, a problem that has weighed on AT&T’s stock price for much of the last year.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 25, 2019 08:27 UTC