Discovery Combining With AT&T's WarnerMedia
AT&T and Discovery confirmed Monday morning the latter is combining with the former's WarnerMedia. "In connection with the spin-off or split-off of WarnerMedia, AT&T will receive $43 billion," they said. Information on the blockbuster deal can be found here.
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Discovery CEO David Zaslav will lead the new media company. Jason Kilar has been CEO of WarnerMedia. See more information on them here and here.
This transaction would be by far the biggest one in media, telecom and technology proposed under the Biden administration. A "strategic rationale" for the pact "would appear to be driven predominantly by scale for scale’s sake," Cowen wrote investors Sunday night. "The scale certainly would be imposing; the company’s combined share of total day cable viewership in the U.S. would be close to 30%." The combo "looks unwieldy, with close to 30 different cable networks owned in the U.S.," said Cowen, and "the pitch would be around the company’s over-the-top capabilities."