Judge rules for AT&T on key part of Time Warner deal defense

US District Judge Richard Leon has rejected a Justice Department motion to limit evidence AT&T can present in its defense of its proposed purchase of Time Warner. As a result of the ruling, AT&T gets to keep one key element of its argument for the deal, after previously losing another significant fight over its planned defense. The government had asked the court to exclude evidence of a November 2017 offer from Turner (a division of Time Warner that includes CNN, TBS, and TNT) to distributors including cable and satellite companies. The offer says that, for seven years after the purchase's closing, distributors could invoke arbitration if they are unable to reach a "satisfactory distribution agreement for Turner networks," and additionally forbids Turner from blacking out any of its channels on a Turner distributor during the arbitration process, a common tactic in such disputes. AT&T will now point to its arbitration offer as evidence that prices would not increase. Turner made this offer in order to guarantee that distributors -- and thus consumers -- would not face higher subscription fees once AT&T acquired Time Warner, at least for a time.