Los Angeles Times

With 'Roseanne' and Samantha Bee, TV advertisers confront a political minefield

Television advertising is caught in the crossfire of the country’s political battles. When TV stars such as Roseanne Barr, Samantha Bee and Laura Ingraham get into trouble, advertisers retreat rather than risk having their brand names become collateral damage in the highly charged partisan atmosphere enveloping the media landscape. By the time a comedian or commentator is forced to apologize for a tweet or joke that goes too far, many sponsors want their commercials out before they can become the target of angry social media protests.

AT&T Closes Acquisition of Time Warner

AT&T announced it had completed its $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner. The Justice Department still has 60 days from the date of the ruling to file an appeal, even if the companies close the merger, and such a filing remained a possibility. There was a time limit on when the government could seek an injunction, because the merger agreement between the companies expires on June 21. If an injunction had been granted, the companies would have had to extend the date or AT&T would have had to pay Time Warner $500 million in what is known as a reverse termination fee.

The blueprint for the disastrous AT&T-Time Warner deal was written years ago by the Comcast-NBC merger

[Commentary] The AT&T/Time Waner deal is not unique. Its template was laid out in 2011 by what was then the biggest such “vertical” merger in the information and entertainment sectors: Comcast’s $30-billion takeover of NBCUniversal.  That earlier deal united a big Internet service provider with a big purveyor of content. It was pitched as bringing huge benefits to the public — improved cable TV and internet technology, more innovative TV programming, lower prices. Have you seen any of that since 2011? Me neither. 

Senate Democrats believe net neutrality is a political winner as they try to reinstate regulations

One after another, 15 Democratic senators — nearly a third of their caucus — stepped to a microphone on Capitol Hill to call for tough rules to protect net neutrality. The turnout, which included Senate Democratic leader Charles E.

Sinclair to Sell TV Stations in Bid to Secure Tribune Deal Approval

Sinclair Broadcast Group has reached deals to sell nearly two dozen television stations as it works to get regulators to sign off on its purchase of Tribune Media. Sinclair said that the move to sell the 23 stations in 18 markets, some of which are owned by Sinclair and some by Tribune, was needed to obtain government approval for the $3.9 billion purchase of fellow television-station owner Tribune.