Proponents of media mergers say such combinations improve consumer access to news, information and entertainment.
For a decade, ambitious titans assured us that media mergers were the wave of the future.
In addition, the government should remove politicians from deciding on media mergers and takeovers.
3.23pm: Patry Hoskins asks about Ofcom's role in media mergers and plurality.
Other media mergers based on the same theory, like Disney's acquisition of ABC, haven't done much better.
The confustion brought on by media mergers and acquisitions has been a common cause of DVD delays.
Its current chairman, Michael K. Powell, has indicated that he is not generally inclined to block media mergers.
The blaring headlines and bitchy gossip columns remain, but where once there were gory crime stories, there are now long articles about expensive handbags and media mergers.
Almost all big media mergers provoke scepticism, given their troubled history.Although it is hard to imagine regulators blocking the deal, they may attach conditions to it.
But analysts say the big sell-off speaks volumes about their wariness of recent, unhappy big media mergers like AOL Time Warner and Vivendi Universal.
The bridegroom, 29, is a vice president in the communications and media mergers and acquisitions group at Lehman Brothers, the New York investment bank.
