A Deal Heard Round the World

Even in the era of the megamerger, this one was remarkable. No wonder the press and public were fascinated by the announcement that Time Inc. and Warner Communications would join to form the world's largest information and entertainment company. From Tokyo to Paris to Hollywood, media moguls sized up the new firm, trying to gauge its potential clout in the increasingly fierce international battle for the attention of readers, filmgoers and television viewers. The New York Times proclaimed that the union would "insure Time Warner a place in the 1990s as one of a handful of global media giants." Declared the...