Wnited States Senate October 26, 2016 ‘Acting Assistant Attomey General Renata B, Hesse “Antitrust Division USS. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530-0001 Dear Acting Assistant Attomey General Hesse: | am writing to urge you to block the proposed merger of ATCT Inc. and Time Warmer Inc. This proposed merger is ust the latest effort to shrink our media landscape, stile competition and Aiversity of content, and provide consumers with less while charging them more. ‘Whether to approve this mergers critical decision forthe Departmen, but its even more consequential for our democracy, Our democracy thrives when there isa diversity of viewpoints, land when citizens have unlimited access to information. Analysts have called the proposed deal “seismic shit” forthe media and technology sectors, witha giant telephone company “gaining onrol over hugely valuable brands spanning television, film, spots, news, video games and ‘mobile and residential Intemet service." As you noted recently witen speaking about the Corrosive effets of antitrust, “when companies harm competition ~choking off competition or fgreeing with rivals not to compete —they infect the economy with unfaimess by accumulating power that the few ean weld atthe expease of the broader American publie."2) This merger represents a gross concentration of power that runs counter tothe public good and should be blocked, Consideration of ths dal should receive the utmost scrutiny, particularly because i involves a sector so fundamental to free democracy. AAs Robert Weissman of Public Citizen notes, “this merger aims to concentrate fa to much market, communications and politcal power in one Corporation, threatening to impede te free flow of information, undermine the integrity ofthe Inter, raise consumer prices and futher corrupt our poities."®) In this particular merger, the diversity of programing would be further diminished by truncating the relationship of content ‘and distribution, When one giant company owns both the content and the means of distribution, thee is a clear disincentive to provide additional choices to consumers. In these so-alled [mwy as merger with Time Warners uch a huge dab Sean Fung and Drew Hrwel, The Washington Pest 10/21/2036 rsh ever the sin Shall Met? Connecting Popular and Profesional isons for Anis Enforcement” ‘opering Remereby Acting Aston Atorey General Renata Hesse ofthe Ants ison a 2036 Global antrust Enforcement sympostum, 9/2/2036 Deans Regulators Shou Rect ATAT and Time Warner Merge, statement of Pubic itizen President Robert Welsman, 10/24/2016“vertical relationships” not only is competition reduced, but there is a heightened, ifnot insurmountable, barier tothe influx of new content and diverse voices. ‘Moreover, this proposed deals likely to allow the CEO of Time Warner o eam hundreds of| mlions of dollars on the stock and options he has accrued, and to saddle the combined company ‘ith upwards of $175 billion of debt it will have to service on the backs of eonsumers, That ‘would be simply unsceeptab ‘As we have seen, newly merged companies have used their scale and market power tora prices on consumers and lower compensation forthe competing producers. ‘Ths deal would almost certainly lead to price hikes and reduced choice. We have seen the effets on consumers play out in AT&T's 2015 acquisition of DirecTV. AT&T claimed that such a deal would benelit consumers] Almost a year late, these benefits are nowhere to be found, and AT&T raised prices for DirecTV servies!$! We have also seen increased anti-competitive behavior resulting from the AT&T-DireeTV merger. For example, AT&T has exempted its DirecTV service from data caps to customers, in ways that are already arguably a violation of net neutrality principles. Finally, approving this deal could lead to a wave of other mergers inthe media industry. Ata time when our telecommunications and media industries ae already too concentrated, we should be focused on opening those markets to more competition, not less. ‘The media and telecommunications landscape is changing. Its important that public policy concems guide these changes, so that we may preserve our democratic discourse and open competitive markets for speech and commerce. That isthe function of our antitrust laws. I ask you fo enforce them and block the proposed merger. Sincerely, Of lawcne— Bernard Sanders United States Senator i -prat-birctv merger May Benefit Consumers na lg Way by Tara Sel, TechZone 360, 7/24/2015 "Wow Mere ATR an DirecTV Rae TV Rates erect Unison’, bya Bode, DSL Reprs, 12/17/2015 aa, ume of ie, exempts Direc rom meble dts cps" by Jon Bodkin, vs Tech, 9/7/2016