美国有线新闻 CNN AT&T与美国司法部对簿公堂

A trial is going on right now that's closely being watched by companies and legal experts around America. AT&T is trying to buy Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, for more than $85 billion.Today, AT&T is a large wireless¹ company and satellite TV distributor. But what it does not have is content programming and entertainment. And that's why it wants Time Warner, which includes CNN, HBO, Warner Brothers, TNT and TBS. The merger² would be one of the biggest media deals in history, but the U.S. government is trying to block it and one big question is, will the merger break U.S. antitrust laws, which are designed to keep American companies from having too much control over the market.

美国各公司和法律专家都在密切关注正在进行的一场审讯。AT&T正在试图以超过850亿美元的价格收购CNN的母公司时代华纳。AT&T是一家大型无线网络公司兼卫星电视分销商。但是AT&T旗下没有内容编排服务和娱乐服务。这也是其想收购时代华纳的原因，因为时代华纳旗下拥有CNN、HBO、华纳兄弟、TNT和TBS。这起并购案将成为史上最大规模的传媒业交易，但是美国政府在试图阻止这场交易，现在重要的问题是，这起并购案是否违反美国反垄断法，该法旨在阻止美国公司拥有过多的市场控制权。

HADAS GOLD, CNNMONEY: The antitrust case of the decade is here. It's a case that will be thought in law schools for years to come. Back in 2016, when AT&T announced plans to buy Time Warner, which, yes, owns CNN, most media analysts³ assumed that the deal would be approved.

After all, it's a vertical⁴ merger. That means it's two companies that don't directly compete with one another. Think of it like a shoe company buying the leather manufacturer. So, a year later, when the Justice Department sued to block the $85 billion bid, it was a big deal.

CNNMONEY主持人哈达斯?高尔德：这是10年来规模最大的反垄断案。该案在未来数年都将被法律学校当作案例讨论。AT&T在2016年宣布其计划收购CNN的母公司时代华纳，当时大多数传媒分析师认为这笔交易会获得批准。毕竟这是纵向兼并。即两家公司不是直接竞争关系。比如一家鞋业公司收购一家皮鞋制造商。而一年之后，美国司法部起诉AT&T，阻止其以850亿美元收纳时代华纳的交易，这造成了轰动。

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news here, the Justice Department is said to file a lawsuit⁵ to block AT&T's takeover of Time Warner.

身份不明的女性：现在来看突发新闻，美国司法部向法庭提起诉讼，希望阻止AT&T收购时代华纳。

GOLD: At first, AT&T claimed selective enforcement, basically saying that it was personal between the president and CNN. But now, it's unlikely we'll even hear the words "Donald Trump⁶" during this trial. A judge blocked AT&T's request to use messages between the administration and regulators about the merger. So, the company will not be using the political bias⁷ argument in court. Instead, we're in for a battle fought on more traditional antitrust grounds.The Justice Department says the combination of AT&T and Time Warner will lead to higher prices for consumers, and it argues AT&T could hog⁸ its content, must-haves like sports and news, by not making it available to outside distribution. AT&T argues that it needs this merger to better compete with upstarts like Facebook, Amazon and Netflix. It says there's no evidence prices will go up and that they won't withhold⁹ content from anybody, because then they'd make less money.

高尔德：一开始，AT&T称这是选择性执法，基本上来说就是总统和CNN之间的个人恩怨。但是现在，我们在审讯中甚至不太可能听到“唐纳德?特朗普”这个名字了。AT&T希望使用政府与监管机构之间有关这一并购案的信息，但是一名法官驳回了AT&T的这一请求。因此，该公司在法庭上无法提出政治偏见这一论点。相反，现在这一案件将以更为传统的反垄断理由进行。美国司法部表示，AT&T并购时代华纳将提升消费者需要支付的费用，并称AT&T可能会独占内容，比如体育和新闻等必需内容，使外部分销商无法获得这些内容。AT&T辩称，该公司需要通过这笔并购交易来与脸谱网、亚马逊和网飞公司等新晋公司竞争。AT&T表示，没有证据表明价格会上升，他们也不会阻止其他公司分享内容，因为这会减少他们的收入。

It's not just AT&T and Time Warner who care about the outcome of this case. Other media companies considering mergers¹⁰ like Disney and 21st Century Fox are watching carefully.

关心这起案件结果的不只是AT&T和时代华纳。像迪士尼和21世纪福克斯等其他考虑并购交易的传媒公司同样在密切关注。

If the Justice Department succeeds in blocking the merger, some see signals of a new era of government scrutiny¹¹. That might stop some future deals from going forward.That's why this case could change the course of media industry history.

一些人认为，如果美国司法部成功阻止了这起并购交易，那就表明政府审查的新时代即将开始。这可能会导致未来的一些交易无法进行。这也是此案可能会改变传媒业历史的原因。

1 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

2 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

5 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

8 hog   

n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占

参考例句：

• He is greedy like a hog.他像猪一样贪婪。
• Drivers who hog the road leave no room for other cars.那些占着路面的驾驶员一点余地都不留给其他车辆。

9 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

10 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

11 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。