Sean Burch

The Supreme Court will review a decades-old legal battle over whether the Federal Communications Commission can make media ownership rules less restrictive. In particular, the court will review a ban that has been in place since 1975, barring cross-ownership of TV stations and newspapers in major American cities (although some exceptions have been made). The ban has gained renewed interest from the FCC in recent years. In October 2017, the FCC voted to remove the ban, along with restrictions on local media advertising.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal — which is expected to be formally approved next month in a party-line vote — would render the FCC powerless to stop internet service providers like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon from slowing down or creating paid “fast lanes” for certain sites. And that could produce some big winners and losers throughout the industry.

Winner: Big Internet Service Providers

Loser: Netflix and YouTube 

Winner: Yahoo — and other services owned by ISPs 

Loser: Upstart streaming companies

Loser: Innovators 

The $85 billion merger of AT&T and Time Warner suddenly seems to be in jeopardy. So how will this play out? Here are five possible scenarios.

1. Time Warner Unbundles
2. The Justice Department Blinks
3. Mega-Deal Gets Its Day in Court
4. AT&T Just Moves On
5. Time Warner Becomes the Belle of the Bidding Ball – Again