AT&T-Time Warner will create more competition, says Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban, self-made billionaire and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Contrary to the public opinion that the proposed $85 billion AT&T and Time Warner deal would serve as poor for consumer choice, billionaire tech mogul Mark Cuban said the merger would lead to “more competition.”

Cuban, who became a billionaire through a separate media acquisition, thinks the combination would help challenge the tech giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon who are “dominating digital content.” Right now, “AT&T and Time Warner lag way behind.”

Time Warner, which owns properties such as HBO and CNN, could benefit from the additional resources the merger would bring in terms of web development. “Traditional content needs help transitioning to compete with app-driven content,” he argued.

However, an array of opponents share a separate opinion. Both sides of the aisle, such as Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, have questioned the legitimacy of the deal. The Clinton campaign voiced skepticism, but took more of a wait-and-see approach. The antitrust review would not be finalized until 2017.

The administration should kill the Time Warner/AT&T merger. This deal would mean higher prices and fewer choices for the American people. https://t.co/S8c4ldDqhi

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) October 23, 2016

There have been previously failed attempts of media mergers in the past — the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal was called off in addition to AT&T’s attempted acquisition of T-Mobile.

However, there also remains examples of successful media mergers — Comcast bought NBC Universal in a similarly proposed deal in 2011. This in addition to AT&T’s recent acquisition of DirecTV.