Deal critics see problem$

Critics of AT&T’s $80 billion acquisition of Time Warner are already asking how much this deal will cost their customers.

Typically, consumers of mega mergers pay more for their TV and Internet packages, though the players argue they serve up more choice and faster internet speeds.

Last year saw a slew of new owners take over video and broadband offerings: Charter Communications swallowed up Time Warner Cable; Europe’s Altice acquired Cablevision and AT&T ate up DirecTV.

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that former Time Warner Cable customers in Los Angeles were starting to report higher priced programming packages.

“Any time you hear media executives talking about synergies you know it’s time to grab your wallet and hang on tight. Big mergers like this inevitably mean higher prices for real people, to pay down the money borrowed to finance these deals and compensate top executives,” Free Press Policy director Matt Wood said in a statement Saturday.

“I’m sure it’s going to have a lot of DOJ scrutiny,” Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said.Sarandos was speaking at a law conference in Los Angeles.

Netflix, which was very vocal in the failed Comcast Time Warner Cable merger, is yet to weigh on in on the deal.

The cable TV lobby group, the American Cable Association, also issued a statement Saturday asking Washington to take a hard look at the proposal.

“As the FCC has found in past mergers, combining valuable content with pay-TV distribution causes harm to consumers and competition in the pay-TV market,” it said.