CNN News: AT&T與美國(guó)司法部對(duì)簿公堂

A trial is going on right now that's closely being watched by companies and legal experts around America. AT&T is trying to buy Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, for more than $85 billion.Today, AT&T is a large wireless company and satellite TV distributor. But what it does not have is content programming and entertainment. And that's why it wants Time Warner, which includes CNN, HBO, Warner Brothers, TNT and TBS. The merger would be one of the biggest media deals in history, but the U.S. government is trying to block it and one big question is, will the merger break U.S. antitrust laws, which are designed to keep American companies from having too much control over the market.

美國(guó)各公司和法律專家都在密切關(guān)注正在進(jìn)行的一場(chǎng)審訊。AT&T正在試圖以超過850億美元的價(jià)格收購(gòu)CNN的母公司時(shí)代華納。AT&T是一家大型無(wú)線網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司兼衛(wèi)星電視分銷商。但是AT&T旗下沒有內(nèi)容編排服務(wù)和娛樂服務(wù)。這也是其想收購(gòu)時(shí)代華納的原因，因?yàn)闀r(shí)代華納旗下?lián)碛蠧NN、HBO、華納兄弟、TNT和TBS。這起并購(gòu)案將成為史上最大規(guī)模的傳媒業(yè)交易，但是美國(guó)政府在試圖阻止這場(chǎng)交易，現(xiàn)在重要的問題是，這起并購(gòu)案是否違反美國(guó)反壟斷法，該法旨在阻止美國(guó)公司擁有過多的市場(chǎng)控制權(quán)。

HADAS GOLD, CNNMONEY: The antitrust case of the decade is here. It's a case that will be thought in law schools for years to come. Back in 2016, when AT&T announced plans to buy Time Warner, which, yes, owns CNN, most media analysts assumed that the deal would be approved.

After all, it's a vertical merger. That means it's two companies that don't directly compete with one another. Think of it like a shoe company buying the leather manufacturer. So, a year later, when the Justice Department sued to block the $85 billion bid, it was a big deal.

CNNMONEY主持人哈達(dá)斯•高爾德：這是10年來(lái)規(guī)模最大的反壟斷案。該案在未來(lái)數(shù)年都將被法律學(xué)校當(dāng)作案例討論。AT&T在2016年宣布其計(jì)劃收購(gòu)CNN的母公司時(shí)代華納，當(dāng)時(shí)大多數(shù)傳媒分析師認(rèn)為這筆交易會(huì)獲得批準(zhǔn)。畢竟這是縱向兼并。即兩家公司不是直接競(jìng)爭(zhēng)關(guān)系。比如一家鞋業(yè)公司收購(gòu)一家皮鞋制造商。而一年之后，美國(guó)司法部起訴AT&T，阻止其以850億美元收納時(shí)代華納的交易，這造成了轟動(dòng)。

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news here, the Justice Department is said to file a lawsuit to block AT&T's takeover of Time Warner.

身份不明的女性：現(xiàn)在來(lái)看突發(fā)新聞，美國(guó)司法部向法庭提起訴訟，希望阻止AT&T收購(gòu)時(shí)代華納。

GOLD: At first, AT&T claimed selective enforcement, basically saying that it was personal between the president and CNN. But now, it's unlikely we'll even hear the words "Donald Trump" during this trial. A judge blocked AT&T's request to use messages between the administration and regulators about the merger. So, the company will not be using the political bias argument in court. Instead, we're in for a battle fought on more traditional antitrust grounds.The Justice Department says the combination of AT&T and Time Warner will lead to higher prices for consumers, and it argues AT&T could hog its content, must-haves like sports and news, by not making it available to outside distribution. AT&T argues that it needs this merger to better compete with upstarts like Facebook, Amazon and Netflix. It says there's no evidence prices will go up and that they won't withhold content from anybody, because then they'd make less money.

高爾德：一開始，AT&T稱這是選擇性執(zhí)法，基本上來(lái)說就是總統(tǒng)和CNN之間的個(gè)人恩怨。但是現(xiàn)在，我們?cè)趯徲嵵猩踔敛惶赡苈牭?ldquo;唐納德•特朗普”這個(gè)名字了。AT&T希望使用政府與監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)之間有關(guān)這一并購(gòu)案的信息，但是一名法官駁回了AT&T的這一請(qǐng)求。因此，該公司在法庭上無(wú)法提出政治偏見這一論點(diǎn)。相反，現(xiàn)在這一案件將以更為傳統(tǒng)的反壟斷理由進(jìn)行。美國(guó)司法部表示，AT&T并購(gòu)時(shí)代華納將提升消費(fèi)者需要支付的費(fèi)用，并稱AT&T可能會(huì)獨(dú)占內(nèi)容，比如體育和新聞等必需內(nèi)容，使外部分銷商無(wú)法獲得這些內(nèi)容。AT&T辯稱，該公司需要通過這筆并購(gòu)交易來(lái)與臉譜網(wǎng)、亞馬遜和網(wǎng)飛公司等新晉公司競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。AT&T表示，沒有證據(jù)表明價(jià)格會(huì)上升，他們也不會(huì)阻止其他公司分享內(nèi)容，因?yàn)檫@會(huì)減少他們的收入。

It's not just AT&T and Time Warner who care about the outcome of this case. Other media companies considering mergers like Disney and 21st Century Fox are watching carefully.

關(guān)心這起案件結(jié)果的不只是AT&T和時(shí)代華納。像迪士尼和21世紀(jì)?？怂沟绕渌紤]并購(gòu)交易的傳媒公司同樣在密切關(guān)注。

If the Justice Department succeeds in blocking the merger, some see signals of a new era of government scrutiny. That might stop some future deals from going forward.That's why this case could change the course of media industry history.

一些人認(rèn)為，如果美國(guó)司法部成功阻止了這起并購(gòu)交易，那就表明政府審查的新時(shí)代即將開始。這可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致未來(lái)的一些交易無(wú)法進(jìn)行。這也是此案可能會(huì)改變傳媒業(yè)歷史的原因。