FCC chief: AT&T-Time Warner deal won't face agency's scrutiny

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai doesn't expect the agency to review AT&T's $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner.

The new FCC chairman, named to the post last month by President Trump, said AT&T doesn't expect to have any broadcast licenses transferred from Time Warner, so the transaction would not require FCC review.

“That is the regulatory hook for FCC review,” Pai told The Wall Street Journal in an interview at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Monday. “My understanding is that the deal won’t be presented to the commission.” An FCC spokesman confirmed the chairman's expectations on the deal.

Time Warner (TWX) shares rose 1%. AT&T (T) shares fell more than 1%.

Last week, Time Warner said it plans to sell its only FCC-regulated broadcast station, WPCH-TV in Atlanta — the former WTBS — to Meredith Corp. for $70 million, a move designed to ease regulatory concerns.

The Justice Department is now reviewing the merger, AT&T and Time Warner said in a Feb. 17 letter to more than one dozen U.S. senators.

"We currently anticipate that Time Warner will not need to transfer any of its FCC licenses to AT&T to maintain its business operations," said the letter signed by Timothy McKone, AT&T's executive vice president for federal relations, and Steve Vest, Time Warner's senior vice president of global public policy. "This merger will unleash a new wave of innovation in the video marketplace and bring much-needed competition to cable providers," they wrote. "Market realities refute any concerns about anticompetitive effects."

At least two Democratic senators addressed in the letter were less than convinced. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said on his Facebook page that "their letter does little to address my concerns and essentially asks American consumers to trust that the combined company won’t engage in anticompetitive behavior, raise prices, violate the principles of net neutrality, or decrease access to diverse voices."

Similarly, Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass, said in a statement, "It’s not surprising that AT&T would claim the proposed deal benefits consumers, but we need an objective review ... to truly evaluate how merging two massive companies into one behemoth will benefit my constituents and consumers from coast to coast.”

Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.