that talks are ongoing and a deal could be reached as early as this week. The deal would bring together such brands as HBO and CNN with lifestyle powerhouses Food Network and HGTV.
Sources close to the situation suggested that the two sides will look create a joint venture that would house AT&T’s media and entertainment assets along with Discovery’s suite of lifestyle channels. In that scenario, it’s believed that Discovery CEO David Zaslav andCEO Jason Kilar would both maintain leadership roles although those details remain sketchy.
There was immediate speculation that any deal between AT&T and Discovery would prompt other bidders to join the fray. There has been chatter in the marketplace that AT&T was quietly talking to Comcast about possible combinations for NBCUniversal with the WarnerMedia assets.
But AT&T has been grappling with the enormous $170 billion-plus debt load racked up by its $48 billion acquisition of DirecTV in 2016. That deal proved disastrous from a timing and bottom-line perspective. AT&T acquired the satcaster just as the pay-TV marketplace started to unravel in earnest with the rise of SVOD and free streaming alternatives like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and now Disney Plus, HBO Max and Discovery Plus.
DirecTV has steadily lost subscribers at a fast clip over the past three years and its operations have been a drag on AT&T’s earnings. AT&T put the company on the block last year as part of its debt-reduction campaign but wound up setting a deal in February with private equity giant TPG spin DirecTV out as a standalone company, in which AT&T owns 70%. The enterprise value of DirecTV in that deal was $16.25 billion — a far cry from the price tag that AT&T paid five years ago.
jasonkilar whatever you do RestoreTheSnyderVerse
Discovery has the best content period. No other service comes close.
hbomaxinsider Not sure if that's good for AT&T
Hell yeah
MasaSonCap EntStrategyGuy if I had to place bets, I’d say they’re working more towards a bundle to compete with ESPN+Dis+Hulu than a single app housing both parties content. Thoughts?
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