We have been closely following the AT&T (T) and Time Warner (TWX) merger. There is so much going on with this deal and the impacts on revenue and earnings have been discussed by our team in a number of different columns. Today we have learned that the start date for the trial over whether AT&T can buy Time Warner Inc may be delayed by a day to March 20, Judge Richard Leon said on Friday. The last thing we want is for this to drag on any longer.

Judge Leon, who is on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said March 19 may be needed to hear final pre-trial motions so the trial start may be pushed back. The Justice Department’s Craig Conrath said he opposed any delay because witnesses travelling to Washington for the trial could be inconvenienced.

The $85 billion deal has been followed more closely than most antitrust matters because U.S. President Donald Trump attacked it while a candidate in 2016. Trump has also criticized Time Warner’s CNN news network and, in November, he reiterated his opposition to the proposed transaction.

But why is there even a court case over this issue? Well, the consumer needs to be considered. It may be suggested that too much power in the hands of one company could lead to prices being raised. There may be some truth to that statement, but it does not limit the competition in our opinion.

This is especially true when record numbers of consumers are abandoning traditional TV anyway, cutting the cord. For those that remain, content issues need to be considered. A legitimate concern we have is that a number of popular programs could be withheld from the consumer until AT&T gets a price it wants. There are many ways in which AT&T could control content to hurt competition, and ultimately impact consumers.

This is one of the largest anti-trust cases in decades, but what is so peculiar about this case is that vertical mergers like this one are routinely approved because they generally benefit consumers without removing any competitor from the market. In our view, this is still the case.

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