Latest in AT&T

A mammoth SEC filing by Discovery today offers some tidbits on its upcoming merger with WarnerMedia – like the new Nasdaq stock symbol, WBD – and pages detailing back-and- forth calls between David Zaslav and AT&T CEO John Stankey starting in February when the Discovery boss first reached out. They spoke, they met in…

AT&T CEO John Stankey said the approval process for a deal to shed WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery "is consistent with what we would have expected as we walked into it." Speaking on the company's third-quarter earnings call, the executive said, "We are moving through the steps with the various regulatory…

AT&T’s third-quarter results topped Wall Street estimates despite an expected loss of HBO Max subscribers in the U.S. due to a shift away from Amazon Prime Video Channels. The telecom giant on Thursday reported total revenue of $39.9 billion, down nearly 6%. The company blamed the downturn on the divestiture of…

One America News, the upstart far-right media outlet best known for doggedly backing Donald Trump before, during and after his presidency, got about 90% of its financial backing from AT&T. That eye-opening news, which met with pushback from the telecom giant, was reported in an investigative piece by Reuters. The news…

"I would far prefer this adventure to go on for 10, 20 years, but that's not the way corporate America works," outgoing WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar admitted Tuesday. "The last year and a half have been among the most fulfilling of my professional life," Kilar, who invoked Hollywood's wrath with his decision late last y…

AT&T CEO John Stankey sees a period of “less uncertainty” ahead for the telecom giant as Covid-19 gradually eases and the spinoff of WarnerMedia is completed. “If I think about where I sat last year, and maybe some of the anxiety and the pieces that had to be put in place,” he said during an online appearance at…

WarnerMedia is offering a half-off discount on HBO Max now that HBO is no longer available on Amazon Prime Video Channels. Today through September 26, the monthly subscription cost will be $7.49 for up to six months for anyone who had accessed HBO via the Channels platform. The discount is available to both new and…

Executives on both sides of the $43-billion WarnerMedia-Discovery merger again confirmed the deal is on track to close by the middle of next year but details otherwise remain scarce on the combination that will reshape the media industry. In presentations at a media conference yesterday and today, Discovery CFO Gunnar…

John Oliver – back on air after a two-week hiatus and in studio for the first time since Covid – started in by bashing AT&T for contributions to legislators who supported the harsh new Texas abortion law. A political action committee belonging to AT&T was a major donor to Texas pols who sponsored and co-sponsored the…

Cricket Wireless plans to include the ad-supported tier of streaming service HBO Max at no extra charge for select customers. Beginning August 20, the $10-a-month offering will be part of Cricket’s $60-a-month unlimited plans, for both new and existing subscribers. AT&T acquired the prepaid telecom operation in 2014…

AT&T is in talks to sell WarnerMedia’s celebrity gossip site TMZ to Fox, Deadline has confirmed, in yet another deal paring down the telco’s entertainment assets, one that comes as it prepares to spin off Warner and merge it with Discovery. That $43 billion-deal was announced in May and may not close until the middle…

Sony Pictures Entertainment has closed its $1.175 billion acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T, adding to the list of entertainment assets recently shed by the telecom giant. The company will be combined with Sony’s Funimation, creating a powerhouse in anime. Funimation is a joint venture between SPE and Sony Music…