US-based telecoms giant AT&T has agreed to combine its WarnerMedia business, which includes HBO, CNN, Warner Bros. and TNT, with Discovery in a US$43bn deal to create a new streaming giant. Against this backdrop, the company witnessed a 200% jump in influencer conversations on Twitter during the third week of May 2021 over the previous week, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The deal is already approved by boards of both AT&T and Discovery and is expected to close by mid-2022. The newly public traded company will be 71% owned by AT&T shareholders and 29% by the Discovery shareholders. The new company will be led by Discovery CEO David Jaslav.

Smitarani Tripathy, Influencer Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The influencers’ sentiment was largely positive on AT&T’s decision to combine its WarnerMedia with Discovery. Influencers see this as a blockbuster deal, which will shake the streaming media and pave the way to compete with rivals like media giants Netflix and Disney.”

Below are few most popular Influencer tweets captured by GlobalData’s Company Influencer Platform:

1. Will Townsend, Senior Analyst-Networking Practice at Moor Insights and Strategy

“This is a smart move with @ATT

still owning a majority stake in the new joint venture – I still expect they will leverage the content for future #5G consumer tie ups https://bit.ly/3eS3DWo

@WarnerMedia @Discovery @Light_Reading”

https://twitter.com/WillTownTech/status/1394349450391441410

2. Scott Nations, President of Nations Indexes:

“At some point AT&T is going to have to pick a strategy and make it work.  No more musical chairs.  @ATT

AT&T and Discovery reached a deal to combine their media assets into a new, publicly traded company, completing AT&T’s retreat from media business “

https://twitter.com/ScottNations/status/1394289652178333699

3. Amber Mac, President of AmberMac Media:

“U.S. telecom giant AT&T announced Monday a deal combining its content unit WarnerMedia with Discovery, paving the way for one of Hollywood’s biggest studios to compete with rivals like media giants Netflix and Disney”

https://twitter.com/ambermac/status/1394671898974433282

4. Lucas Wyrsch, Enterprise Risk Managing Advisor:

“WarnerMedia and Discovery will join forces in a blockbuster deal that shakes up streaming”

https://twitter.com/Lucas_Wyrsch/status/1394290621280526336

5. Bowdeya Tweh, News Editor at The Wall Street Journal:

“AT&T plans to combine its WarnerMedia division with Discovery, a move that would unwind the telecom giant’s signature bet on media”

https://twitter.com/BowKnowsBiz/status/1394251284279140353