In a keynote conversation at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, Department of Justice antitrust chief Makan Delrahim pointed to a carriage impasse between the UFC and DirecTV as proof of AT&T’s monopoly power now that it owns WarnerMedia. Last month, ESPN signed an expanded deal with the UFC that makes the streaming platform…

Makan Delrahim, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division, said the DOJ’s legal defeat in its long quest to block AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner was disappointing but did bear some fruit on appeal. “You learn more from losing than from winning,” Delrahim said in a speech at a Washington conference…

The pending $3.6 billion merger of Gray TV and Raycom, one of the two mega-deals poised to transform the local TV sector, is facing final regulatory conditions before it can proceed. Antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice today ordered the companies to divest stations in nine markets in order to avoid a…

The Department of Justice said today that it has reached a settlement with six broadcast television companies, including Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and Tribune Media Company, to end the unlawful agreements to share non-public competitive information. The Justice Department's Antitrust Division filed a civil…

In a speech today at the Global Antitrust Enforcement Symposium, Department of Justice antitrust chief Makan Delrahim outlined plans to “modernize” the merger review process, making it shorter and more effective. “There is widespread agreement that significant merger reviews are taking longer to complete.” he said…

The Justice Department said it will review the Paramount Consent Decrees that have governed how studios distribute films to movie theaters for the last 70 years. The DOJ announced this spring that it would begin examining older antitrust decisions to identify those that no longer protect competition. Antitrust…

With intrigue swirling about his dogged quest to block AT&T’s merger with Time Warner, Department of Justice antitrust chief Makan Delrahim is defending regulators’ speedy approval of Disney’s bid to buy 21st Century Fox assets. In an op-ed piece in the <a…

UPDATED to include comments from AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson: Not so fast, AT&T. After a flurry of corporate blue-skying over the past month since the official close of the company’s merger with Time Warner, antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice have filed an appeal of the judge’s decision that allowed it…

The $85 billion merger of AT&T and Time Warner was cleared by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., today in a landmark antitrust ruling that went against the U.S. government’s Department of Justice. In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon denied the DOJ’s argument that such a merger would place much…

Speaking on the same day a federal judge is set to deliver a high-stakes ruling in the government’s lawsuit aiming to block AT&T’s merger with Time Warner, top U.S. antitrust regulator Makan Delrahim vigorously defended the legal attack. “The irony in that case is rich,” Delrahim said of the months-long battle over…

As Disney gets set to announce its acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets, reportedly on Thursday, Hollywood and Wall Street are swooning so much they have almost forgotten their other recent obsession: the fate of the even bigger AT&T-Time Warner deal. The momentum of one deal just as the other one moves sideways is…

Splitting the difference between AT&T’s request for a trial date in February and the government’s interest in beginning as late as May, the judge in the closely watched antitrust battle said the trial will begin March 19. During a pre-trial hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon in Washington established…