AT&T-Time Warner Trial: Comcast Executive Says ‘No Reason’ to Believe Merger Will Change Leverage

A top executive at Comcast testified at the AT&T-Time Warner antitrust trial that he has “no reason” to believe that the massive merger will have an impact on their company’s negotiations for Turner channels or HBO.  A key argument in the Justice Department’s case is that the merger will give AT&T-Time Warner increased leverage to demand more onerous fees from distribution rivals, ultimately driving up prices for consumers. But Greg Rigdon, executive vice president of content acquisition for Comcast, was asked by Time Warner’s attorney Kevin Orsini what would change after the merger. While cautioning that he didn’t know how the company would operate, he said he had “no reason to believe it will impact my negotiations with Turner or HBO.”