Donald Trump


US gov’t blocks AT&T’s Time Warner takeover

The US Department for Justice (DoJ) has blocked AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner and filed a lawsuit to prevent it. The justice department has said that the merger, valued at US$85 billion, will reduce competition and raise prices for consumers. Makan Delrahim, the assistant attorney general for the Department for Justice’s antitrust division, said: “It would […]

PBS hits back Trump fund cut plans

US pubcaster PBS has quickly hit back at President Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate all public broadcasting, claiming voters and politicians overwhelmingly oppose such measures. Earlier this week, Trump revealed plans to cut funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB), which significantly contributes to around 350 PBS affiliates and comprises about 7% of the […]

HBO to dramatise Trump election

HBO is turning the unexpected election of Donald Trump as US president last year into a miniseries. Jay Roach, who directed HBO one-off drama about the 2008 election Game Change, will return for the as-yet-unnamed mini, which is based on source material from a Mark Halperin and John Heilemann book that Penguin Press is soon […]

INTV: Zucker – CNN thriving amid Trump media assault

CNN boss Jeff Zucker claims the media is under assault and politicians are failing to address US president Donald Trump’s attacks on journalists, but that his news network is thriving with political events driving record ratings and revenue. Zucker was speaking at INTV in a session labelled ‘The War on Truth’, and told delegates here […]

Trump names net neutrality opponent as FCC chief

US President Donald Trump has named an outspoken critic of net neutrality as the chairman of US media and telecoms regulator the Federal Communications Commission. Ajit Pai has been an FCC commissioner since 2012, appointed by former president Barack Obama despite their differing views on how the internet should be regulated as a hat-tip to […]

Disney quiet on Netflix, but trumpets D2C

The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger has sidestepped speculation around a potential move for SVOD giant Netflix, but admitted direct-to-consumer models were creating “really interesting opportunities”. Disney was linked to a multi-billion dollar deal for Netflix last month, leading to intense speculation about a takeover. Questioned directly about interest in Netflix and social media […]

Trump win ‘could spell trouble’ for US entertainment

Donald Trump’s election win earlier this week will make international sales harder for US media companies, according to influential analyst house Ovum. In an update to clients, Ovum managing director Aneil Rakity noted that entertainment content has been one of the country’s most significant exports in terms of revenue and soft power. “The ascendancy of […]

Channel 4 lands Michael Moore’s Trump doc

UK broadcaster Channel 4 has acquired Michael Moore in Trumpland, the new feature doc from the titular filmmaker. In Trumpland, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine filmmaker Moore takes his one-man show, which is broadly anti-Trump, into Ohio, the Republican presidential candidate’s heartland with the stated mission to ‘make America sane again’. The film is […]

Trump opposes AT&T/Time Warner and Comcast/NBCU

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has come out against the AT&T and Time Warner deal and also said if he wins the US election, his administration would examine another media mega merger, that of Comcast and NBCUniversal. Trump has taken issue with mainstream media throughout his campaign, with the attacks becoming more frequent and trenchant […]

YouTube registers big election numbers

The three US presidential debates drive 8.5 million live watch hours and averaged 1.7 million live peak concurrent viewers, according to YouTube. The Google-owned video site said that this week’s third debate alone clocked up 2.8 million live watch hours, nearly five times higher than 2012, and 1.7 million live peak concurrent viewers, over four […]