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98 companies AT&T-Time Warner will own after the $85 billion merger
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that AT&T may purchase Time Warner, without any conditions, arguing that the $85 billion deal doesn’t violate antitrust law.

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that AT&T may purchase Time Warner, without any conditions, arguing that the $85 billion deal doesn’t violate antitrust law.
The six-week trial was a monumental win for corporate interests, likely clearing the way for other potential mergers like Disney and Fox, or T-Mobile and Sprint.
“A whole bunch of companies are all of a sudden going to get active,” Hal Vogel, CEO of Vogel Capital Management, told Fast Company. “The bankers have been romping around trying to figure out what they should do, if and when. Now that the decision is here, they’re going to move pretty quickly.”
AT&T argued that it needed Time Warner’s brands to survive in an increasingly competitive and consolidated media landscape.
“We look forward to closing the merger on or before June 20 so we can begin to give consumers video entertainment that is more affordable, mobile, and innovative,” AT&T General Counsel David McAtee said in a statement.
In November 2017, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to stop the merger, saying it would bring less competition and higher prices.
Source: Gizmodo
Judge Richard Leon disagreed on all counts.
“The Government has failed to meet its burden of proof to show that the merger is likely to result in a substantial lessening of competition,” he wrote in his ruling. “If there ever were an antitrust case where the parties had a dramatically different assessment of the current state of the relevant market and a fundamentally different vision of its future development, this is the one.”
The Justice Department’s top antitrust official, Makan Delrahim, said the government was considering “next steps.”
“We continue to believe that the pay-TV market will be less competitive and less innovative as a result of the proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner,” he said in a statement.
The ruling is significant because it ostensibly sets a precedent on vertical mergers, defined as the combination of two companies that produce the same product but at different stages of the production process.
“It’s open season for vertical mergers,” Chris Sagers, an antitrust law professor at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, told CNN Money. “The fact is that they’ve gotten a little easier, and we’ll see a big flurry of deals.”
One way the deal could hurt consumers is if AT&T decided that only subscribers to its services can access Time Warner content, like HBO shows and DC films. That might help AT&T-Time Warner keep customers from cutting ties with cable and flocking to Netflix, which has been preparing for this moment for years by producing a cache of in-house content, but some argue it will give the conglomerate more power to raise prices on content without providing better service, and render smaller streaming services less competitive.
While the ruling has spurred media executives and analysts to look into other high-profile mergers, Judge Leon cautioned against considering it a decisive precedent.
“...the temptation by some to view this decision as being something more than a resolution of this specific case should be resisted by one and all!”
Here are the companies AT&T acquired in the merger:
- HBO and Cinemax, as part of Home Box Office Inc.
- TBS, truTV, TNT, Studio T, and TCM, as part of Turner Entertainment Networks
- Adult Swim and Cartoon Network, as part of the TBS, Inc. Animation, Young Adults & Kids Media (AYAKM) division
- CNN and HLN, as part of CNN News Group
- The websites Super Deluxe, Beme Inc., and CallToons
- DC Entertainment
- DC Films, including all of the “Batman” movies
- Turner Broadcasting International
- Turner Sports, including the website Bleacher Report and the rights to March Madness and NBA playoffs
- The CW (50%)
- Warner Bros. Animation
- Hanna-Barbera Cartoons
- Fandango Media (30%)
- Warner Bros. Consumer Products
- Warner Bros. Digital Networks
- Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures
- Warner Bros. Pictures International
- Warner Bros. Museum
- Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank
- Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden
- Warner Bros. Studio Tours
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Warner Animation Group
- Warner Bros. Family Entertainment
- NonStop Television
- New Line Cinema
- Turner Entertainment Co.
- WaterTower Music
- Castle Rock Entertainment
- The Wolper Organization
- HOOQ
- Blue Ribbon Content
- Warner Bros. Television
- Warner Horizon Television
- Warner Bros. Television Distribution
- Warner Bros. International Television Production
- Telepictures
- Alloy Entertainment
- eleveneleven
- Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
- Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
AT&T had already controlled:
- Ameritech
- Ameritech Cellular
- Ameritech Interactive Media Services
- Ameritech Publishing
- AT&T Communications (2017)
- AT&T International
- AT&T Originals
- AT&T Alascom
- AT&T Business Internet
- AT&T CallVantage
- AT&T Computer Systems
- AT&T FSM Library
- AT&T GoPhone
- AT&T Information Systems
- AT&T Intellectual Property
- AT&T Intellectual Property I
- AT&T Labs
- AT&T Mexico
- AT&T Mobility
- AT&T Technologies
- AT&T Wireless Services
- BellSouth
- BellSouth Advertising & Publishing
- BellSouth Long Distance
- BellSouth Mobility DCS
- BellSouth Telecommunications
- Centennial Communications
- CenturyTel of the Midwest-Kendall
- Cricket Wireless
- Crunchyroll
- DirecTV
- Fullscreen (company)
- Illinois Bell
- Indiana Bell
- International Bell Telephone Company
- Michigan Bell
- Nevada Bell
- Ohio Bell
- Otter Media
- Pacific Bell
- Pacific Bell Directory
- Pacific Bell Wireless
- QLT Consumer Lease Services
- Rooster Teeth
- SBC Long Distance
- SBC Telecom
- Southwestern Bell
- Southwestern Bell Internet Services
- Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems
- Southwestern Bell Yellow Pages
- Unefón
- Univel
- Unix System Laboratories
- AT&T U-verse
- Wisconsin Bell
- Yellowpages.com
- YP Holdings
Iron Age discoveries uncovered outside London, including a ‘murder’ victim
A man's skeleton, found facedown with his hands bound, was unearthed near an ancient ceremonial circle during a high speed rail excavation project.
- A skeleton representing a man who was tossed face down into a ditch nearly 2,500 years ago with his hands bound in front of his hips was dug up during an excavation outside of London.
- The discovery was made during a high speed rail project that has been a bonanza for archaeology, as the area is home to more than 60 ancient sites along the planned route.
- An ornate grave of a high status individual from the Roman period and an ancient ceremonial circle were also discovered during the excavations.
Foul play?
<p>A skeleton representing a man who was tossed face down into a ditch nearly 2,500 years ago with his hands bound in front of his hips was dug up during a high speed rail excavation.</p><p>The positioning of the remains have led archaeologists to suspect that the man may have been a victim of an ancient murder or execution. Though any bindings have since decomposed, his hands were positioned together and pinned under his pelvis. There was also no sign of a grave or coffin. </p><p>"He seems to have had his hands tied, and he was face-down in the bottom of the ditch," <a href="https://www.livescience.com/iron-age-murder-victim-england.html" target="_blank">said archaeologist Rachel Wood</a>, who led the excavation. "There are not many ways that you end up that way."</p><p>Currently, archaeologists are examining the skeleton to uncover more information about the circumstances of the man's death. Fragments of pottery found in the ditch may offer some clues as to exactly when the man died. </p><p>"If he was struck across the head with a heavy object, you could find a mark of that on the back of the skull," Wood said to <a href="https://www.livescience.com/iron-age-murder-victim-england.html" target="_blank">Live Science</a>. "If he was stabbed, you could find blade marks on the ribs. So we're hoping to find something like that, to tell us how he died."</p>Other discoveries at Wellwick Farm
<p>The grim discovery was made at Wellwick Farm near Wendover. That is about 15 miles north-west of the outskirts of London, where <a href="https://www.hs2.org.uk/building-hs2/hs2-green-corridor/" target="_blank">a tunnel</a> is going to be built as part of a HS2 high-speed rail project due to open between London and several northern cities sometime after 2028. The infrastructure project has been something of a bonanza for archaeology as the area is home to more than 60 ancient sites along the planned route that are now being excavated before construction begins. </p><p>The farm sits less than a mile away from the ancient highway <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/group/texttechnologies/cgi-bin/stanfordnottingham/places/?icknield" target="_blank">Icknield Way</a> that runs along the tops of the Chiltern Hills. The route (now mostly trails) has been used since prehistoric times. Evidence at Wellwick Farm indicates that from the Neolithic to the Medieval eras, humans have occupied the region for more than 4,000 years, making it a rich area for archaeological finds. </p><p>Wood and her colleagues found some evidence of an ancient village occupied from the late Bronze Age (more than 3,000 years ago) until the Roman Empire's invasion of southern England about 2,000 years ago. At the site were the remains of animal pens, pits for disposing food, and a roundhouse — a standard British dwelling during the Bronze Age constructed with a circular plan made of stone or wood topped with a conical thatched roof.</p>Ceremonial burial site
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzMTk0Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDgwNTIyMX0.I49n1-j8WVhKjIZS_wVWZissnk3W1583yYXB7qaGtN8/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C82%2C0%2C83&height=700" id="44da7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="46cfc8ca1c64fc404b32014542221275" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="top down view of coffin" data-width="1245" data-height="700" />A high status burial in a lead-lined coffin dating back to Roman times.
Photo Credit: HS2
<p>While these ancient people moved away from Wellwick Farm before the Romans invaded, a large portion of the area was still used for ritual burials for high-status members of society, Wood told Live Science. The ceremonial burial site included a circular ditch (about 60 feet across) at the center, and was a bit of a distance away from the ditch where the (suspected) murder victim was uncovered. Additionally, archaeologists found an ornately detailed grave near the sacred burial site that dates back to the Roman period, hundreds of years later when the original Bronze Age burial site would have been overgrown.</p><p>The newer grave from the Roman period encapsulated an adult skeleton contained in a lead-lined coffin. It's likely that the outer coffin had been made of wood that rotted away. Since it was clearly an ornate burial, the occupant of the grave was probably a person of high status who could afford such a lavish burial. However, according to Wood, no treasures or tokens had been discovered. </p>Sacred timber circle
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzMTk0Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDAwOTQ4Mn0.eVJAUcD0uBUkVMFuMOPSgH8EssGkfLf_MjwUv0zGCI8/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C149%2C0%2C149&height=700" id="9de6a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ee66520d470b26f5c055eaef0b95ec06" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="An aerial view of the sacred circular monument." data-width="1245" data-height="700" />An aerial view of the sacred circular monument.
Photo Credit: HS2
<p>One of the most compelling archaeological discoveries at Wellwick Farm are the indications of a huge ceremonial circle once circumscribed by timber posts lying south of the Bronze Age burial site. Though the wooden posts have rotted away, signs of the post holes remain. It's thought to date from the Neolithic period to 5,000 years ago, according to Wood.</p><p>This circle would have had a diameter stretching 210 feet across and consisted of two rings of hundreds of posts. There would have been an entry gap to the south-west. Five posts in the very center of the circle aligned with that same gap, which, according to Wood, appeared to have been in the direction of the rising sun on the day of the midwinter solstice. </p><p>Similar Neolithic timber circles have been discovered around Great Britain, such as one near <a href="https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/stonehenge-sarsens" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a> that is considered to date back to around the same time. </p>As we approach death, our dreams offer comfort and reconciliation
As patients approached death, many had dreams and visions of deceased loved ones.
One of the most devastating elements of the coronavirus pandemic has been the inability to personally care for loved ones who have fallen ill.
Surprising new feature of human evolution discovered
Research reveals a new evolutionary feature that separates humans from other primates.
Human evolution.
- Researchers find a new feature of human evolution.
- Humans have evolved to use less water per day than other primates.
- The nose is one of the factors that allows humans to be water efficient.
A model of water turnover for humans and chimpanzees who have similar fat free mass and body water pools.
Credit: Current Biology
Skepticism: Why critical thinking makes you smarter
Being skeptical isn't just about being contrarian. It's about asking the right questions of ourselves and others to gain understanding.
