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For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media — comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more. Contact John at johnkiese@yahoo.com.

Merger Could Drop P&G To No. 2?

Procter & Gamble
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Provided

Cincinnati's Procter & Gamble might not be the nation's No. 1 advertiser if AT&T merges with cable giant Time Warner.

The New York Post reports that "if AT&T survives regulatory scrutiny without having to divest too many assets, the new AT&T will become the nation’s No. 1 advertiser — leaping past Procter & Gamble, the maker of toilet paper, toothpaste and laundry detergent. The mega-merger is expected to take a year to close."

P&G spends $4.3 billion in advertising, the paper says. At 2015 spending levels, the new AT&T/Time Warner together would devote $5.6 billion to advertising, when when you combine AT&T's $3.9 billion and Time Warner's $1.7 billion.

AT&T also "would become the biggest media owner, leaping over Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, but would sit behind Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook in terms of market capitalization," the paper said.

AT&T's new DirecTV Now, an online offering of 100 channels, will be launched Friday, the paper said.

John Kiesewetter, who has covered television and media for more than 35 years, has been working for Cincinnati Public Radio and WVXU-FM since 2015.