A PYMNTS Company

US: Turner CEO John Martin takes the stand at the AT&T-Time Warner Trial

By  |  March 28, 2018

Turner Networks CEO John Martin took the stand as an adverse witness for the Justice Department in its antitrust case against AT&T-Time Warner reported Bloomberg.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    John Martin, the chief executive officer of Turner Broadcasting, should be on the witness stand for the most of the day. He’s the first witness in the case from one of the merging companies, rather than an AT&T competitor opposed to the merger.

    One of the central issues in the trial is whether Turner’s content — including TBS, TNT and CNN — is so important that it would allow AT&T to gain unfair leverage in programming negotiations with pay-TV distributors as a result of the merger.

    That’s what Dish Network Corp. executive Warren Schlichting testified about earlier this week. AT&T and Time Warner have tried to downplay the importance of Time Warner’s content, pointing out that many other major sporting events are broadcast by other networks such as ESPN or CBS and not by Turner’s TBS and TNT.

    Full Content: Bloomberg

    Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.