Advanced Television

Netflix: ‘AT&T – TW deal mustn’t harm neutrality’

October 25, 2016

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told a WSJ event he was in favour of AT&T’s planned $85.4 billion buy of Time Warner, provided that his streaming company ‘continued to be treated fairly.’ He said it was critical that Netflix’s content be treated the same as Time Warner’s once the deal takes effect.

“The key thing is net neutrality, which has not been AT&T’s favourite topic,” he said.” Shares of both AT&T and Time Warner fell on concerns that the acquisition would not withstand scrutiny from regulators.

Meantime, the deal has fuelled speculation that Netflix could be among the next acquisition targets. But Hastings signalled the company isn’t interested.  “I can’t tell you how many bankers have called this week…We don’t take any of the calls.”

Categories: Articles, Business, Policy, Regulation