AT&T Turns to Media Acquisitions as Its Video Ambitions Grow

AT&T has gone from a regional phone company to a national telecommunications powerhouse over the last decade. Its next big expansion will see it buying businesses to transform into a media and entertainment giant, apparently.

Over the next three to five years, AT&T will seek deals to become a producer of programming, shifting its business model so that it owns some of the content it distributes, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the company’s strategy. The company’s targets include companies worth $2 billion to $50 billion, apparently. Phone companies are trying to figure out their next steps for expansion as wireless growth flattens out and competition with cable providers remains intense. While its main rival Verizon has bet big on mobile advertising, AT&T is more focused on becoming a powerhouse in video programming. Having become the largest US pay-TV provider through the DirecTV deal, AT&T now faces a new set of challenges -- holding on to TV subscribers in an era of cord-cutting as well as fighting cable networks’ attempts to raise prices for their channels. Adding media properties to AT&T’s distribution business would give the phone carrier valuable insight for marketers into the viewing habits of its users, just as TV rival Comcast got in the acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011. “The landscape has changed so much in the past 10 years. Strategically, going into media makes a lot of sense,” said Amy Yong, an analyst with Macquarie Capital USA Inc. “Owning content has become very important, not only for cost benefits but getting a stronger foothold among consumers.”