Now, Spotlight Turns to AT&T-DirecTV Deal

Just three months after Comcast announced its $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable, its rival AT&T announced a $48 billion takeover of DirecTV. Both deals were poised to create new industry behemoths and transform the country’s media landscape. But while the Comcast transaction set off a widespread public outcry and ultimately collapsed last month under regulatory scrutiny, the AT&T-DirecTV merger proposal has largely avoided intense examination. Until now.

The spotlight has turned to AT&T’s deal for DirecTV, which -- if approved -- would unite the telecom giant with the satellite company to create the country’s largest television distributor. With about 26 million subscribers, it would surpass Comcast. Federal regulators are poring through more than 7.5 million pages of documents, hundreds of white papers and testimony by company executives to evaluate whether the AT&T-DirecTV deal will harm competition or serve the public interest. AT&T and DirecTV have both said they are confident the deal will close by the end of June.