Justice Department to appeal Time Warner-AT&T merger

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The Department of Justice said Thursday that it would move to appeal the approval of a massive merger between Time Warner and AT&T, CNBC reports. The $85.4 billion deal was approved by a federal judge in June, despite the DOJ's protest at the time that the merger would render the TV industry "less competitive and less innovative."

The DOJ's decision to appeal the approval was revealed in a court filing Thursday. In approving the deal last month, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon determined that the government had not sufficiently showed that the joining would reduce competition in the TV market, The New York Times explains, but acknowledged that an appeal would be "fair game."