​The FCC approved AT&T and DIRECTV’s merger Friday, paving the way for a new cable conglomerate in the changing TV world.

The $49 billion merger will make the new pay-TV company the country’s biggest, with 26 million video subscribers, and leaping ahead of its top rival, Comcast, at 22 million.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler recommended approving the deal, but with added conditions, including putting rules in place to stop the new entity from discriminating against online video competition via data caps.

That condition joins a list that also includes the requirement that the new company expand its high-speed broadband service to more than 12 million new locations, as well as to eligible schools and libraries, and that it offer a low-cost alternative Internet service to low-income residents where coverage is available.

The Department of Justice has stated it will not challenge the merger, saying that “the combination of AT&T’s land-based Internet and video business with DIRECTV’s satellite-based video business does not pose a significant risk to competition.”

Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.

Brief Take: The new combined company will claim 26 million video subscribers - more than that of Comcast, making a new cable bundling player in the cord cutting game.

[Image courtesy of FCC]

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