In Court, AT&T Chief Attacks Lawsuit to Block Time Warner Merger

AT&T’s chief executive, Randall Stephenson, attacked the Justice Department’s lawsuit to block its merger with Time Warner, saying that a combined company would be no different from the Silicon Valley giants that make and distribute video content. As the last witness for the defense in the Justice Department’s legal battle against AT&T’s $85.4 billion deal to buy Time Warner,  Stephenson portrayed the 140-year-old phone giant as being in an existential crisis and in need of the deal with Time Warner to compete against tech companies.

He called the blockbuster merger a “vision deal” that would allow AT&T to better match up against Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google, which he referred to as “F.A.A.N.G.” “The F.A.A.N.G. are all focused on premium video,” Stephenson said, comparing the proposed merger to the businesses of tech giants. “All of them are vertically integrated.” AT&T has a lot of data about the habits of its 100 million wireless customers and 25 million pay-TV customers from its DirecTV and U-verse services. But the company wants the must-have content from Time Warner's HBO, CNN, TBS, Warner Bros. and other assets around which to sell advertising, Stephenson said.

Stephenson also shared details about a new streaming service called AT&T Watch, which will not include any sports channels, but be sold for $15 a month.