AT&T is to buy Time Warner, owner of the Warner Bros. movie studio as well as HBO and CNN, for 85.4 billion US dollars. If approved, the deal will be the world's biggest this year.

AT&T made the announcement Saturday. It is the boldest move yet by a telecommunications company to acquire content to stream over its high-speed network. And the deal could shake up the media landscape.

AT&T will pay 107.50 US dollars per Time Warner share... half in cash and half in stock. AT&T said it expected to close the deal by the end of next year. The US Department of Justice is to review the purchase.