AT&T’s not waiting! Got a reorg in works
The Justice Department has yet to ask AT&T for concessions on its proposed $85 billion takeover of Time Warner, but it looks like the phone company already knows what it plans to serve up.
Bloomberg reported a detailed reorganization of the company’s business lines, suggesting that AT&T would separate its content and distribution assets in two.
It’s unclear, however, how such a separation would ease concerns that AT&T could jack up rates for rivals that buy Time Warner content, or quash competition in rural areas.
One source told The Post it was still unclear where DirecTV would sit in the new organization. John Stankey, AT&T’s entertainment boss, is set to become chief of the unit that will house Time Warner.
But it’s still being discussed whether DirecTV will be folded into AT&T’s traditional operations or remain with Stankey.
“No decisions on org structure or leadership have been finalized,” an AT&T spokesman said. “Randall [Stephenson] and Jeff are working through that.”
Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes is expected to remain through a transition period.
Meanwhile, AT&T has said it will find $1 billion in synergies from the deal, but it’s not clear where the Dallas-based telecom will make cuts.
“Once they started digging in, they were shocked by the salaries in the movie business,” one source said. “They don’t get that — the cost structure and the salaries. They initially thought there were cost savings.”
AT&T is also anticipating that Ma- kan Delrahim will be appointed as the Justice Department’s chief antitrust cop.
As reported by The Post in March, Delrahim’s nomination as the nation’s antitrust regulator has made people close to AT&T and Time Warner nervous about the merger’s prospects for approval.
On Wednesday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who sits on the Judiciary Committee, said he wants to know what communications Delrahim has had with the White House on the AT&T/Time Warner merger plan.