{"id":366936,"date":"2018-06-27T06:05:47","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T05:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/att-only-buys-time-warner-once-in-a-lifetime\/"},"modified":"2018-06-27T06:05:47","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T05:05:47","slug":"att-only-buys-time-warner-once-in-a-lifetime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/att-only-buys-time-warner-once-in-a-lifetime\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018AT&amp;T Only Buys Time Warner Once in a Lifetime\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Janine Jackson interview Nilay Patel about the AT&amp;T\/Time Warner ruling for the <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/nilay-patel-on-att-time-warner-ruling-sam-menefee-libey-on-j20-update\/\">June 26, 2018, episode<\/a> of <strong>CounterSpin<\/strong>. This is a lightly edited transcript.<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"wrapperMI_1\" class=\"wrap-mjp  \" style=\"padding:5px 0px 40px 0px;margin:0px;width:100%\">\n<div class=\"Eabove-mjp\" id=\"Eabove-mjp_1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"subwrap-MI\">\n<div class=\"jp-innerwrap\">\n<div class=\"innerx\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerleft\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerright\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innertab\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"interface-mjp verdana-mjp\" style=\"height:71px\" id=\"interfaceMI_1\">\n<div class=\"MI-image Himg right-mjp\" id=\"MI_image_1\" style=\"width:auto;height:71px;overflow:hidden\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"T_mp3j_1\" class=\"player-track-title left-mjp norm-mjp plain-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"bars_holder\">\n<div class=\"loadMI_mp3j\" id=\"load_mp3j_1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"poscolMI_mp3j\" id=\"poscol_mp3j_1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"posbarMI_mp3j\" id=\"posbar_mp3j_1\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"P-Time-MI_1\" class=\"jp-play-time\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"T-Time-MI_1\" class=\"jp-total-time\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"statusMI_1\" class=\"statusMI\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"transport-MI\">\n<div class=\"play-mjp\" id=\"playpause_mp3j_1\">Play<\/div>\n<div class=\"stop-mjp\" id=\"stop_mp3j_1\">Stop<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"buttons-wrap-mjp\" id=\"buttons-wrap-mjp_1\">\n<div class=\"mp3j-popout-MI\" id=\"lpp_mp3j_1\">pop out<\/div>\n<div id=\"download_mp3j_1\" class=\"dloadmp3-MI\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mjp-volwrap\">\n<div class=\"MIsliderVolume\" id=\"vol_mp3j_1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerExt1\" id=\"innerExt1_1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerExt2\" id=\"innerExt2_1\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"Ebetween-mjp\" id=\"Ebetween-mjp_1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"listwrap_mp3j\" id=\"L_mp3j_1\">\n<div class=\"wrapper-mjp\">\n<div class=\"playlist-colour\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wrapper-mjp\">\n<ul class=\"ul-mjp darken1-mjp verdana-mjp med-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp left-mjp\" id=\"UL_mp3j_1\">\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_1\" class=\"mp3j-finfo\">\n<div class=\"mp3j-finfo-sleeve\">\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_gif_1\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-gif\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_txt_1\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-txt\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mp3j-finfo-close\" id=\"mp3j_finfo_close_1\">X<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_dlf_1\" class=\"mp3j-dlframe\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mp3j-nosolution\" id=\"mp3j_nosolution_1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"Ebelow-mjp\" id=\"Ebelow-mjp_1\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_1 = [<br \/>\n\t{ name: &#8220;1. CounterSpin Nilay Patel Interview &#8220;, formats: [&#8220;mp3&#8221;], mp3: &#8220;aHR0cDovL3d3dy5mYWlyLm9yZy9hdWRpby9jb3VudGVyc3Bpbi9Db3VudGVyU3BpbjE4MDYyMlBhdGVsLm1wMw==&#8221;, counterpart:&#8221;&#8221;, artist: &#8220;&#8221;, image: &#8220;true&#8221;, imgurl: &#8220;&#8221; }<br \/>\n];<\/p>\n<p>MP3jPLAYERS[1] = { list:MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_1, tr:0, type:&#8217;MI&#8217;, lstate:true, loop:false, play_txt:&#8217;Play&#8217;, pause_txt:&#8217;Pause&#8217;, pp_title:&#8217;FAIR&#8217;, autoplay:false, download:true, vol:80, height:71, cssclass:&#8217; &#8216;, popout_css:{ enabled:true, \t\t\tcolours: [&#8220;#fff&#8221;, &#8220;rgba(201,207,232,0.35)&#8221;, &#8220;rgb(241,241,241)&#8221;, &#8220;rgba(245,5,5,0.7)&#8221;, &#8220;rgba(92,201,255,0.8)&#8221;, &#8220;transparent&#8221;, &#8220;transparent&#8221;, &#8220;#525252&#8221;, &#8220;#525252&#8221;, &#8220;#768D99&#8221;, &#8220;#47ACDE&#8221;, &#8220;&#8221;, 600, 200 ],<br \/>\n\t\t\tcssInterface: { &#8220;color&#8221;: &#8220;#525252&#8221; },<br \/>\n\t\t\tcssTitle: { &#8220;left&#8221;: &#8220;16px&#8221;, &#8220;right&#8221;:&#8221;16px&#8221;, &#8220;top&#8221;:&#8221;8px&#8221; },<br \/>\n\t\t\tcssImage: { &#8220;overflow&#8221;: &#8220;hidden&#8221;, &#8220;width&#8221;:&#8221;auto&#8221;, &#8220;height&#8221;:&#8221;71px&#8221;  },<br \/>\n\t\t\tcssFontSize: { &#8220;title&#8221;: &#8220;16px&#8221;, &#8220;caption&#8221;: &#8220;11.2px&#8221;, &#8220;list&#8221;: &#8220;12px&#8221; },<br \/>\n\t\t\tclasses: { interface:&#8217; verdana-mjp&#8217;, title:&#8217; left-mjp norm-mjp plain-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp&#8217;, image:&#8217; Himg right-mjp&#8217;, poscol:&#8221;, ul:&#8217; darken1-mjp verdana-mjp med-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp left-mjp&#8217; }} };<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fair.org\/audio\/counterspin\/CounterSpin180622Patel.mp3\"><strong>MP3 Link<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Janine Jackson:<\/b> When <a href=\"http:\/\/newscorp.com\/\"><b>News Corp<\/b><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1993\/06\/30\/nyregion\/murdoch-gets-waiver-from-the-fcc-to-buy-the-new-york-post.html\">wanted<\/a> an FCC waiver to allow it to take over another TV station owner here in New York years ago, the story was that a merged company would be stronger, and even serve news market diversity by keeping alive <b>News Corp<\/b>\u2019s daily paper, the <b>New York Post<\/b>. The merger\u2019s actual effect was better reflected in a bus ad I saw some time later, advertising, \u201c<b>Ricki Lake<\/b>: Now on 2 Stations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The thing is, most people don\u2019t take corporations\u2019 promises about the benefits of mergers at face value. Perhaps especially in media, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/victor-pickard\/merger-fatigue-in-a-time-_b_12753708.html\">concerns<\/a> about the concentration of power in a few hands are keen and, one would think, almost automatic.<\/p>\n<p>But US District Court Richard Leon is not most people. Leon has just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/decoding-judge-leon-s-at-t-time-warner-decision-1528845853\">ruled<\/a> that the merger of <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> and <b>Time Warner<\/b> may proceed, rejecting antitrust concerns <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-switch\/wp\/2017\/11\/20\/the-justice-department-just-sued-att-to-block-its-85-billion-bid-for-time-warner\/?utm_term=.0b43b0b498e5\">presented<\/a> by the Department of Justice and, indeed, Leon says the giant telcomm carrier and the giant media company can merge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2018\/06\/12\/att-time-warner-ruling.html\">with no conditions whatsoever<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling is weird, bad and important, and worth understanding, our next guest says, for anyone who cares about how the government might restrain the power of giant media and tech companies. Technology journalist Nilay Patel is editor-in-chief and co-founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\"><b>The Verge<\/b><\/a>. He joins us now by phone. Welcome to <b>CounterSpin<\/b>, Nilay Patel.<\/p>\n<p><b>NP:<\/b> Thank you for having me.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8926895\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8926895\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Verge-ATT-Time-Warner.png\" alt=\"Verge: The court\u2019s decision to let AT&amp;T and Time Warner merge is ridiculously bad\" width=\"350\" height=\"313\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>The Verge<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2018\/6\/15\/17468612\/att-time-warner-acquisition-court-decision\">6\/15\/18<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Well, there are strata to this. There is the case the Justice Department might have made\u2014and some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/economy\/how-the-att-time-warner-deal-looks-to-one-investor\/2018\/06\/13\/e86c4446-6f3f-11e8-bd50-b80389a4e569_story.html?utm_term=.68e1eaee4d4f\">say<\/a> this maybe wasn\u2019t a good deal for the state to focus on, to address antitrust concerns. Then there\u2019s the case the Justice Department <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-switch\/wp\/2018\/04\/30\/regulators-and-att-offer-closing-arguments-in-antitrust-case\/?utm_term=.12e5218abc7b\">did make<\/a>. And then there\u2019s the judge\u2019s ruling, both its likely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/att-time-warner-merger-ruling-bad-country\/\">impact<\/a> in the real world and its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2018\/06\/20\/revisiting-atts-rationale-for-buying-time-warner.aspx\">rationales<\/a>, which are, let\u2019s say, concerning.<\/p>\n<p>As you note, very few people are going to plow through this 170-page <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dcd.uscourts.gov\/sites\/dcd\/files\/17-2511opinion.pdf\">opinion<\/a>, but you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2018\/6\/15\/17468612\/att-time-warner-acquisition-court-decision\">did<\/a>. What do you think is most important for us to know about what\u2019s in it?<\/p>\n<p><b>NP:<\/b> The ruling is particularly strange, and Judge Leon seems very excited about the prospect of <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> owning <b>Time Warner<\/b>. But I think the main thing for people to understand is that legacy media companies like <b>Time Warner<\/b> are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/business\/business-news\/why-one-judge-s-decision-could-change-fate-u-s-n881431\">terrified<\/a> of <b>Google<\/b> and <b>Facebook<\/b> and <b>Netflix<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>And they\u2019re particularly terrified because typically, if you\u2019re the CEO of <b>HBO<\/b>, your relationship to the end-consumer is mediated by a cable company. So you want to buy <b>HBO<\/b>? You call <b>Spectrum<\/b> cable, you get <b>HBO<\/b>, <b>HBO<\/b> sells the content to <b>Spectrum<\/b>, <b>Spectrum<\/b> sells the package to you.<\/p>\n<p><b>Netflix<\/b> has bypassed that. They sell you a direct subscription to <b>Netflix<\/b>. <b>Google<\/b> and <b>Facebook<\/b> have bypassed that, right? You have a direct relationship with <b>Google<\/b> and <b>Facebook<\/b>. <b>Google<\/b> and <b>Facebook<\/b> also <a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2017\/01\/04\/google-facebook-ad-industry\/\">own<\/a> gigantic advertising businesses, which are directly threatening channels like <b>CNN<\/b>, which rely on an enormous amount of advertising revenue. So from <b>Time Warner<\/b>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-switch\/wp\/2018\/04\/18\/time-warner-ceo-calls-the-governments-case-against-att-ridiculous\/?utm_term=.a9317ad5c619\">point-of-view<\/a>, they needed to get closer to the consumer.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8926899\" style=\"width: 374px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8926899 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Nilay-Patel-Portrait.jpg\" alt=\"Nilay Patel\" width=\"364\" height=\"455\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nilay Patel: &#8220;The DoJ cannot make the net neutrality argument while at the same time Trump\u2019s FCC is tearing down net neutrality.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The argument the government did not make, and that Judge Leon did not even address, was the fact that <b>Netflix<\/b> and <b>Google<\/b> and <b>Facebook<\/b> are all extremely reliant on our internet providers to reach the consumer. So if <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> decides to block <b>Netflix<\/b> tomorrow, <b>Netflix<\/b>\u2019s power over <b>HBO<\/b> goes away, right? They simply just cannot reach you. And the government did not point that out, saying, \u201cIf <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> buys <b>Time Warner<\/b> and starts to prioritize <b>HBO<\/b>, <b>Netflix<\/b> will be disadvantaged in a significant way.\u201d They did not say, \u201cIf they start to bundle <b>CNN<\/b> for free with <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> data plans, then that will obviously disadvantage <b>MSNBC<\/b> and <b>Fox<\/b>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And today, literally today, <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/tech\/2018\/06\/21\/ts-new-unlimited-wireless-provides-watchtv-cord-cu-thing-free\/719925002\/\">rolled out<\/a> its new television package, called <b>\u201cAT&amp;T Watch<\/b>.\u201d It will be preloaded on <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> phones, and indeed, you will be able to watch <b>CNN<\/b> for free on <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> phones as part of your data plan, and all other video will cost you money against that data plan. So there\u2019s this very obvious anti-competitive effect that will occur because <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> now owns video that it will give you for free, and other video services will hit your data cap, and you will effectively have to pay for them.<\/p>\n<p>The government, I think, was not able to really make this argument, because that is fundamentally the net neutrality argument. And so the DoJ cannot make the net neutrality argument while at the same time Trump\u2019s FCC is <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2017\/12\/14\/technology\/fcc-net-neutrality-vote\/index.html\">tearing down<\/a> net neutrality. And I think that conceptual knot was the one the judge might have been able to untie, and he basically just declined to even think about it.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> That\u2019s really, really interesting, because, yeah, the surface thing we <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2018\/06\/11\/media\/att-time-warner-preview\/index.html\">heard<\/a> was, \u201c<b>AT&amp;T<\/b> is a distributor. <b>Time Warner<\/b> is a content producer,\u201d so therefore their merger isn\u2019t anti-competitive, because they\u2019re not reducing the number of players on their particular level. But that\u2019s a very shallow understanding of an anti-competitive effect.<\/p>\n<p><b>NP:<\/b> And that\u2019s the standard model. And I think that standard model has worked as well as it\u2019s worked for 40 years. And there has not been a DoJ lawsuit to block a vertical merger of this type, using that model, for 40 years, as the judge knows.<\/p>\n<p>I think where it becomes very difficult is, the <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.fcc.gov\/public\/attachments\/DOC-349074A1.pdf\">lack of competition<\/a> in internet service in this country is acute. So there\u2019s only four national wireless providers. If you are looking for wired internet service, over half of the country actually only has one or two choices for wired internet service. So as these companies become bigger and bigger and bigger, their incentives to bundle their own content into their internet packages gets higher and higher and higher. And you, as a consumer, have less and less choice to get away from those bundles.<\/p>\n<p>So at the same time <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> is buying <b>Time Warner<\/b>, <b>Verizon<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-switch\/wp\/2017\/06\/13\/its-official-verizon-finally-buys-yahoo\/?utm_term=.4e975489a3be\">has bought<\/a> the <b>Huffington Post<\/b> and <b>AOL<\/b> and <b>Yahoo!,<\/b> and they\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/information-technology\/2017\/03\/verizon-exempts-fios-tv-streams-from-mobile-data-caps\/\">going to bundle<\/a> their Go90 service into <b>Verizon<\/b> data plans, and they\u2019re explicit about this. So they\u2019re going to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2018\/5\/30\/17410942\/att-verizon-facebook-ad-tracking\">install<\/a> ad-tracking technology that <b>AOL<\/b> has built at a pretty high level, and use it across their network of <b>Verizon<\/b> products and devices, <a href=\"https:\/\/football.fantasysports.yahoo.com\/\"><b>Yahoo!<\/b> fantasy football<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/HuffPostLive\"><b>HuffPost Live<\/b><\/a> and the millions of websites <b>AOL<\/b> owns, to create an ad-tracking network that can compete with <b>Google<\/b> and <b>Facebook<\/b>. And they\u2019re going to use the location data of the phones.<\/p>\n<p><b>AT&amp;T<\/b>, when they talk about <b>Time Warner<\/b>, they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/10\/25\/business\/media\/with-att-time-warner-deal-brewing-a-focus-on-preserving-cnns-integrity.html\">talk<\/a> a little bit about preserving the value of <b>CNN<\/b>, and making sure that it keeps its journalistic integrity, and the great <b>HBO<\/b> shows that everybody loves. But they also very explicitly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/04\/19\/technology\/att-ceo-time-warner-merger.html\">talk<\/a> about needing to build an ad network that can compete with <b>Google<\/b> and <b>Facebook<\/b>. And I think that is the piece of this puzzle that seems to go unremarked upon, except when Judge Leon, in his decision, talks about how interesting it could be, and how innovative it could be, if the advertising was more personalized on <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> devices. Which to me, if you\u2019ve experience personalized advertising on mobile phones, does not seem very exciting, because it\u2019s often very bad, but that\u2019s where we\u2019ve arrived.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Exactly. And the<b> Dallas Morning News,<\/b> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressreader.com\/usa\/the-dallas-morning-news\/20180614\/281496456993360\">piece<\/a> headlined, \u201cMerger May Mean More Choices for Consumers\u201d\u2014you know, \u201c<i>may mean<\/i>,\u201d I guess it <i>may mean<\/i> cupcakes rain from the sky, also\u2014but within that, they mention \u201ctargeted ads\u201d as one of the things the new company may \u201cserve up\u201d for consumers, as though that\u2019s really something that consumers are waiting for with bated breath.<\/p>\n<p>But I wanted to ask you about media coverage of media mergers like this, because we see no shortage of stock market impact reports. And then for everybody else, the angle is one that I saw in a local daily: \u201cHow will the marriage of the two companies affect your binge-watching abilities?\u201d And it\u2019s not that the end user, \u201cWhat\u2019s going to happen when I turn on my device?\u201d\u2014that\u2019s an angle, of course, but the consumer-as-citizen piece seems to be largely missing.<\/p>\n<p>And not even the bromides that we used to get, where there\u2019d be a story of a merger and there\u2019d be a quote somewhere in there, \u201csomething something public interest,\u201d you know. These companies are shaping our social and our political interactions. It just seems to warrant more scrutiny from the media itself than it\u2019s getting.<\/p>\n<p><b>NP:<\/b> Look, if you\u2019re a conservative and you watch <b>Fox News<\/b>&#8230;I\u2019m confused, but let\u2019s say that you were doing that. You should be troubled by the fact that <b>AT&amp;T<\/b>\u2019s going to start preloading <b>CNN<\/b> on every single one of its Android phones and giving away for free, and <b>Fox<\/b> consumers will have to effectively have to pay against their data plan. That should concern you. That should actually concern everybody, that one major news network will now be prioritized on <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> devices and all the other ones will not.<\/p>\n<p>What I think is also true, and you brought this up a little bit ago, the classic merger analysis has been a consumer-benefit analysis, and the way that you measure consumer benefit is, \u201cDo we think this merger is going to drive prices up,\u201d right? If we reduce competition in the market, the incentive to raise prices will go up, because there\u2019s less competition to drive prices down.<\/p>\n<p>And the real problem, in a lot of cases, in particular the tech industry, is that prices are already free. So it\u2019s very hard to look at <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> saying, \u201cWe\u2019re going to buy this company and give you things for free,\u201d and plug it into that analysis, because prices can\u2019t go lower than free. And I think the public interest analysis of, \u201cAre we making sure this market is actually competitive?\u201d If everything\u2019s free, there\u2019s still other ways to measure competition. \u201cAre we making sure that other people have <i>access<\/i> to the market? If <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> is one of four carriers\u2014and they are by far the largest carrier\u2014are we confident that other people have access to the consumers that rely on <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> for connectivity?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And I think we\u2019re now at a point where both on the left and the right, there is a lot of interest in rethinking our antitrust law to account for competitiveness, instead of simply price. And price-as-a-proxy-for-competitiveness works when there are prices, and it obviously fails when things are trending to free. And I think that the long history of the internet is we give things away for free. And so it is time, and I think you are seeing this again, both on the left and the right, a rethinking of how we should apply our antitrust law.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> This wasn\u2019t the right case, but I hardly think that the lesson that the DoJ is going to take, or that anyone is going to take, is, \u201cWell, let\u2019s go back and find the right case and do this again right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>NP:<\/b> Yeah, <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> only buys <b>Time Warner<\/b> once in a lifetime.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8926897\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8926897\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/More-Intense-Competition.png\" alt=\"More intense competition could equal lower costs down the road\" width=\"350\" height=\"393\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>Knoxville News Sentinel<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.knoxnews.com\/story\/news\/education\/2018\/06\/15\/att-merger-time-warner-mean-customers\/699371002\/\">6\/15\/18<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Yeah, and I really do think we have to find a new\u2014from the reporting angle\u2014we have to find a new consumer angle that isn\u2019t just\u2014you know, I found this \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.knoxnews.com\/story\/news\/education\/2018\/06\/15\/att-merger-time-warner-mean-customers\/699371002\/\">Five Things to Know<\/a>,\u201d this explainer that ran, and \u201cNumber 1: You likely won\u2019t pay more.\u201d You know? \u201cNumber 3: More intense competition could equal lower costs down the road.\u201d Two of the five are, \u201cit\u2019s not going to cost you more,\u201d and that frame has to shift.<\/p>\n<p><b>NP:<\/b> If you\u2019re interested, it has two names: One is a fuddy-duddy academic name and the other one is a fun name. But the fuddy-duddy academic name is the <a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/jeclap\/article\/9\/3\/131\/4915966\">New Brandeis Movement for Antitrust<\/a>, and there\u2019s a bunch of conferences, the Open Market Institute\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/openmarketsinstitute.org\/articles\/the-new-brandeis-movement-americas-anti-monopoly-debate\/\">all over it<\/a>. And the other name that people are using is the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bna.com\/hipster-antitrust-comes-n73014473208\/\">Hipster Antitrust<\/a>,\u201d because all of the proponents are basically young people who look cool, and it\u2019s a growing movement. I mean, there\u2019s been, just in the past year, the <b>Economist<\/b> has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/business\/2018\/04\/26\/americas-antitrust-apparatus-prepares-to-act-against-big-tech\">touched<\/a> on it, the <b>Nation<\/b> has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/this-budding-movement-wants-to-smash-monopolies\/\">touched<\/a> on it, <b>BuzzFeed <\/b>just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/mathonan\/inside-the-facebook-media-resistance?utm_term=.gpOdXP7P7#.doaeZLmLm\">went<\/a> to a conference where the CEO of <b>News Corp<\/b> was arguing with the head of the antitrust division about it.<\/p>\n<p>I run a consumer technology publication. It\u2019s crazy to me that I have an audience that wants to know about antitrust, but really the answer to, \u201cHow do you regulate <b>Amazon<\/b> when they are constantly pushing prices lower?\u201d is fascinating.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> We\u2019ve been speaking with Nilay Patel. You can read his piece, \u201cThe Court\u2019s Decision to Let <b>AT&amp;T<\/b> and <b>Time Warner<\/b> Merge Is Ridiculously Bad,\u201d at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2018\/6\/15\/17468612\/att-time-warner-acquisition-court-decision\"><b>TheVerge.com<\/b><\/a>. Nilay Patel, thank you so much for joining us this week on <b>CounterSpin<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>NP:<\/b> Thank you for having me.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span><br \/>\nThis piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission from <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/att-only-buys-time-warner-once-in-a-lifetime\/\">FAIR<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Janine Jackson interview Nilay Patel about the AT&amp;T\/Time Warner ruling for the June 26, 2018, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_1 = [ { name: &#8220;1. 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