AT&T in Talks to Combine Media Assets, Including CNN, With Discovery

By Dana Cimilluca, Drew FitzGerald and Cara Lombardo

AT&T Inc. is in talks to combine a big portfolio of media assets, including CNN, with Discovery Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, a deal that would mark a major strategy shift for the telecom giant as the traditional TV business faces prolonged pressure.

The talks, which cover CNN and other parts of AT&T's WarnerMedia division, including the TNT and TBS cable channels, are advanced, and an agreement could be reached by Monday, the people said. Should there be a deal, AT&T shareholders would own a big stake in the new entity, some of the people said. The people cautioned that a deal isn't done yet and the talks could still fall apart. Other details of the potential transaction couldn't be learned.

A deal between WarnerMedia and Discovery, whose portfolio includes its namesake network and HGTV, would further consolidate a media business buffeted by cord-cutting and competition from streaming video.

The talks signal a major pullback by AT&T, which placed a massive bet on media with its 2018 acquisition of Time Warner Inc. for around $81 billion. That deal made it the world's most indebted nonfinancial company.

Bloomberg earlier reported that AT&T was in talks to combine media assets with Discovery.

--Benjamin Mullin contributed to this article.

Write to Dana Cimilluca at [e-mail], Drew FitzGerald at [e-mail] and Cara Lombardo at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-16-21 1259ET