Sen. Franken Raises Serious Doubts over Proposed AT&T-Time Warner Merger, Calls on Federal Regulators to Put Deal Under the Microscope

Press Release

U.S. Sen. Al Franken raised serious doubts over AT&T's proposal to acquire Time Warner for more than $85 billion, which he says could raise prices for consumers and potentially limit access to television content, and he called on federal regulators to heavily scrutinize the deal.

In a letter sent today to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Department of Justice (DOJ), Sen. Franken said that while he is skeptical of any huge media merger, this proposed deal is particularly troublesome because it would give one company control of both programming and how that programming is delivered to viewers.

"I have serious reservations about the $85.4 billion deal, which would give one of the nation's largest telecommunications providers control over a wide array of content," wrote Sen. Franken in his letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Attorney General Loretta Lynch. "A deal of this magnitude could have a lasting effect on the quality and affordability of programming available to consumers across America. And I'm skeptical of any further consolidation in the media and telecommunications industries that could lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and even worse service for Americans."

AT&T is the second largest mobile broadband provider and one of the nation's leading content distributors-and just last year, it purchased DIRECTV, which has more than 25 million U.S. subscribers. Time Warner is one of the world's largest TV and entertainment companies, owning stations such as HBO and CNN. By combining, these two companies would create a media conglomerate with the incentive and ability to harm consumers and competitors alike.

Sen. Franken, a member of the Senate Anti-Trust Subcommittee, has long fought against consolidation in the media market, which he says concentrates too much power in the hands of too few people. One of his priorities as a champion for consumers is to help the tens of millions of people in both Minnesota and across the country who are being squeezed by cable and Internet costs. He successfully led the effort to block a deal between Comcast and Time Warner Cable and was a vocal opponent of the prior Comcast-NBC Universal deal.

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