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Apple 'Monitoring' AT&T's Potential Time Warner Acquisition
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Thank you so much for gracing us with your gratifying presence and profound knowledge and clarifying that for all of us inept idiots.
Time Warner Cable doesn't exist anymore. TWC was bought by Charter and is now Spectrum Cable.
So apparently AT&T agreed to buy Time Warner for $85B. Deal could be announced as early as Sunday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-time-warner-m-a-at-t-idUSKCN12L1Y0
On January 10, 2000, AOL announced it was acquiring Time Warner (which at the time included Time Warner cable, Warner Brothers music and Time magazine properties) for $182B. Two years later AOL Time Warner reported a $98.7B loss for the year including a $45.5B write down of the value of the AOL unit. I wonder how this acquisition will pan out.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-time-warner-m-a-at-t-idUSKCN12L1Y0
On January 10, 2000, AOL announced it was acquiring Time Warner (which at the time included Time Warner cable, Warner Brothers music and Time magazine properties) for $182B. Two years later AOL Time Warner reported a $98.7B loss for the year including a $45.5B write down of the value of the AOL unit. I wonder how this acquisition will pan out.
When we are constantly told how competition is great, since when is removing competition - via acquisition or anything else - anything except the antithesis to the concept of how competition is great? Never mind how buyouts lead to lower quality of product/service, less staff, higher costs... nothing there sounds great to most people.
The deal here is no competition is being reduced or removed.
AT&T has never competed in this category before.
By acquiring TW, they are entering into the content side.
Could be good, could be bad.
So far their DirecTV acquisition seems to be working out. As a customer of both AT&T wireless and DirecTV, I had my worries. So far they have been unfounded. In fact my bill was lowered and the perks of streaming my DirecTV programming over AT&T wireless network is a nice bonus.
With proper regulations and oversight, I don't see why it would be an issue.
Apple does the same thing and virtually all of the big companies does that. Once they buy them out, they bring the functionality to the customer. Do you really think Apple made and invented everything on the iPhone? A lot of it was through acquisitions. Apple brought a ton of companies already themselves.
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Same here. I personally don't give a cr@p. Everyone's monitoring the situation, duh!! Apple is monitoring Wall Street, Apple just went to the bathroom, Apple said their product is made by golems, Apple went to buy a bottle of milk. Who cares a darn. I don't speak for anyone but myself.
Chill in a beach somewhere they don't have to pay taxes. They will be rich and we will still be the same and pay more.
Key words...
He apparently was also 'courageous'
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Sad to see what has become of Ted Turner's media empire.
He apparently was also 'courageous'
Not similar situations at all. AOL had a ton of money but absolutely no operational know-how when it came to old media. Time Warner execs had very little interest in working in a new media world. The two sides were like oil and vinegar and there was never really any sort of plan on why it really made sense to begin with.
AT&T on the other hand also owns DirecTV and is about to launch their streaming DirecTV Now service--they need the content and have a clear way to deliver it. Today's Time Warner has a strong foothold in digital media with stuff like HBOGO. So it's no longer oil and vinegar and actually makes a lot of sense.
Of course very strong arguments can be made about why consolidation is bad...but unfortunately it's the world we live in and both AT&T and Time Warner need to survive in a world with Comcast owning NBC Universal.
AOL wanted access to Time Warner's broadband; Time Warner wanted access to AOL's subscribers. If this merger goes through will my DirecTV bill go down since AT&T will no longer have to pay carriage fees for Time Warner cable properties like CNN, TNT and HBO?
Of course. That was the theory that initiated the whole thing. But the operational executives at Time Warner weren't really consulted and had absolutely no desire to help make it happen. No one at Time Warner really even understood how to make it happen. Frankly it was a decade ahead of its time as old media wasn't ready. And AOL was in a massive bubble that burst almost immediately afterwards.
Doubtful. That very thing will be exactly what regulators won't want happening.
Because Apple may just buy them both with its pocket change, thus becoming its own television and cell network in one stroke.
Better yet, Apple would be wise to cheer on this deal and if it goes through and is approved, Apple would then be wise to offer AT&T so much cash and Apple stock in exchange for their wireless, TV, and fiber internet business that they would be foolish to turn Apple down. Then, if an Apple/AT&T offer is accepted and the merger approved, Apple suddenly has a large cell carrier, large TV content maker, large TV content provider, and an internet provider (whose fiber internet is excellent and is steadily expanding) all under the Apple umbrella. Imagine that, folks!
Jerry Levin was ahead of his time with the Full Service Network. That was basically bringing the internet to your TV.
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Why would Apple want to be in the dumb pipe business?
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And Apple needs to become this because??? Anyway where are they getting this pocket change from since most of their cash is parked overseas?
With the amazing reputation of AT&T this can only mean amazing things ahead for the future of HBO! I expect the quality, talent and variety of their programming can only improve if this excellent decision is approved. 
So maybe they don't make an offer for the internet component of AT&T's business. Even so, if they made AT&T an offer for the wireless and TV aspects of their business, that would still be huge news.
"When the elephants fight, the grass suffers." – African proverb
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I want some of the hash you're smoking.
You've forgotten one of Apple's mantras -- control the entire user experience whenever and wherever possible. What better way for Apple to control the user experience on an iPhone than owning one of the largest wireless carriers in the U.S.? What better way for them to control the TV experience than owning a large TV content producer and TV content provider?
Every company gets acquired sooner or later. So, naturally, u'r wanna watch what someone else like Apple is trying to get into talks with, to see how bad it will end for them (if its does end bad)
Either way... I doubt Apple will have any more luck after .. then they do now... But probably because AT&T also does phone services too/internet.. so that may be something.
Apple probably thinks AT&T could be closer to getting a deal, than rely on TV networks themselves who don't have a foot hold yet.
Alternatively, AT&T could just totally destroy.
Either way... I doubt Apple will have any more luck after .. then they do now... But probably because AT&T also does phone services too/internet.. so that may be something.
Apple probably thinks AT&T could be closer to getting a deal, than rely on TV networks themselves who don't have a foot hold yet.
Alternatively, AT&T could just totally destroy.
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