US regulator, AT&T at odds over CNN in Time Warner Deal

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: US antitrust regulators and AT&T sparred on Wednesday over whether the wireless carrier would be required to sell Time Warner’s CNN cable network as a condition of approval of its deal to buy the media company.

The US Department of Justice has demanded significant asset sales in order to approve the $85.4-billion deal, sources told Reuters on Wednesday, and asked AT&T to sell CNN-parent Turner Broadcasting or its DirecTV satellite TV operation in discussions on Monday.

AT&T offered to sell CNN, the sources said. AT&T denied that version of events of the meeting with justice department officials.

“I have never offered to sell CNN and have no intention of doing so,” AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Reports that the justice department is pushing for significant asset sales and conflicting reports of its discussions with AT&T cast new doubt on the deal on Wednesday. Shares of Time Warner closed down 6.5% at $88.50.

AT&T wants to buy Time Warner, which owns the premium channel HBO and movie studio Warner Bros along with Tur ner Broadcasting, so it can bundle mobile service with video entertainment and take online advertising from Facebook and Alphabet.

Both companies have struggled to keep younger viewers from flocking to online services like Netflix and Amazon.com’s Prime Video. The deal is opposed by an array of consumer groups and smaller television networks on the grounds that it would give AT&T too much power over the content it would distribute to its wireless customers.