AT&T—ad spending, facts and profile

Overview AT&T is a telecommunications company based in Dallas. Business segments and operations Read about AT&T’s business and its operating segments Marketing spending Worldwide ad spending: Total worldwide ad spending shown in the Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers report is AT&T’s stated ad spending. AT&T disclosed worldwide “advertising expense” of $2.576 billion in 2023, up 4.6% from $2.462 billion in 2022. U.S. ad spending: Total U.S. ad spending figures shown in the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers report are Ad Age Datacenter estimates. Links to Ad Age’s advertiser rankings Latest rankings: U.S. The Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2024 ranking was released Oct. 28, 2024. Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2024 U.S. ad spending, rankings, analysis and profiles for the biggest marketers Click here Past rankings: U.S. Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2023 Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2022 Latest rankings: worldwide The Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers 2024 ranking was released Dec. 9, 2024. Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers 2024 Global ad spending, rankings, analysis and profiles for the biggest marketers Click here Past rankings: worldwide Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers 2023 Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers 2022 Financial results See more: AT&T financial results Read AT&T annual filing Deals and strategic moves Spin-off of WarnerMedia (2022): Discovery Inc. in April 2022 completed its merger with the WarnerMedia business of AT&T and changed its name to Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. AT&T received about $40.4 billion (including $38.8 billion of cash and $1.6 billion of debt retained by WarnerMedia). AT&T shareholders ended up with about a 71% stake in Warner Bros. Discovery; Discovery shareholders owned 29%. Discovery was deemed to be the accounting acquirer of WarnerMedia. So for accounting purposes, Discovery is considered Warner Bros. Discovery’s predecessor. AT&T and Discovery announced the deal in May 2021. AT&T offloaded WarnerMedia less than four years after buying the company. AT&T’s transaction with Discovery excluded WarnerMedia’s Xandr, an ad tech unit that provides advertising services (primarily the AppNexus business) using data for targeted advertising. AT&T in June 2022 sold Xandr to Microsoft Corp. Acquisition of WarnerMedia (2018): AT&T in June 2018 completed its acquisition of Time Warner for total consideration of $79.4 billion (excluding Time Warner’s net debt at acquisition). When the deal closed, AT&T changed Time Warner’s name to “Warner Media, LLC” (branded as WarnerMedia). AT&T in October 2016 announced the deal to buy Time Warner in a stock-and-cash transaction. Sale of DirecTV: AT&T in July 2021 completed a deal to split off its U.S. video business into a new company, DirecTV Entertainment Holdings. The new DirecTV owned and operated AT&T’s former U.S. video business unit, consisting of the DirecTV, AT&T TV and U-verse video services. The new company was jointly owned by AT&T (70% stake) and buyout firm TPG (30% stake). AT&T said the transaction implied an enterprise value for the new company of $16.25 billion. AT&T in September 2024 agreed to sell its remaining 70% DirecTV stake to TPG for $7.6 billion in cash payments through 2029. That deal was to close in the second half of 2025. DirecTV in September 2024 also signed a deal to buy rival satellite service Dish and streaming service Sling TV from EchoStar Corp. for a nominal $1 plus assumption of $9.75 billion in debt. That deal, subject to regulatory approval, was intended to close in fourth-quarter 2025. DirecTV in November 2024 terminated the Dish deal. AT&T bought the old DirecTV in July 2015. DirecTV, originally part of General Motors’ Hughes Electronics, launched its satellite TV service in 1994. Other deals and strategic moves: SBC Communications in November 2005 bought AT&T Corp., the one-time parent of AT&T Wireless (before AT&T Corp. spun off AT&T Wireless in July 2001); SBC then adopted a new name, AT&T Inc. AT&T Inc. then bought BellSouth Corp., completing the acquisition in December 2006. Almost immediately after buying BellSouth, AT&T began to phase out the brand of Cingular Wireless (owned 60% by AT&T Inc. and 40% by BellSouth) in favor of AT&T. Cingular Wireless LLC became AT&T Mobility LLC. Cingular began in October 2000 as a joint venture of SBC and BellSouth. In October 2004, Cingular paid about $41 billion cash for standalone firm AT&T Wireless Services, which Cingular rebranded as Cingular. Management and employees See more: AT&T management See more: AT&T careers Stock AT&T trades on the New York Stock Exchange. Ticker: T History AT&T Inc. now owns four of the seven Baby Bells that on Jan. 1, 1984, broke off from American Telephone & Telegraph Co. (which became AT&T Corp.): Ameritech, BellSouth, Pacific Bell and Southwestern Bell (which became SBC). Rival Verizon Communications is a roll-up of two Baby Bells—Nynex and Bell Atlantic—and GTE. Qwest Communications in 2000 acquired the seventh Baby Bell, US West. Telecom rollup CenturyLink (formerly CenturyTel) in April 2011 acquired Qwest. CenturyLink in January 2021 changed its name to Lumen Technologies. Lumen in October 2022 sold its local phone business (operating under the CenturyLink brand) in 20 Midwest and Southeast states to buyout firm Apollo Global Management. See more: History of AT&T and its brands Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2024 U.S. ad spending, rankings, analysis and profiles for the biggest marketers Click here

AT&T—ad spending, facts and profile

Featured Stories