While this may be welcome news to other media conglomerates, others are less than thrilled like Makan Delrahim, the Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Antritrust Divison.
“We continue to believe that the pay-TV market will be less competitive and less innovative as a result of the proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner,” Delrahim said in a statement. “We will closely review the Court’s opinion and consider next steps in light of our commitment to preserving competition for the benefit of American consumers.”
In after-hours trading, AT&T shares were down 2% and Time Warner’s stock was up 5%. The merger approval could also affect media ETFs at Wednesday’s market open, such as Invesco Dynamic Media ETF (NYSEArca: PBS) and iShares Evolved U.S. Media and Entertainment ETF (NYSEArca: IEME).
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