AT&T Judge Urges Fewer Witnesses as MIT Professor Takes Stand

(Bloomberg) -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor John Hauser is set to testify Thursday in the U.S. lawsuit against AT&T Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Time Warner Inc. as the judge urged both sides to consider cutting the number of witnesses.

After Wednesday's testimony, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington told lawyers to consider rethinking their witness lists. He had estimated previously that the trial could last as long as eight weeks. AT&T needs a decision by a June 21 deadline to complete the merger.

Hauser, a marketing professor, will take the witness stand for the Justice Department, which is putting on its case that the takeover will raise costs for pay-TV subscribers across the country. Also scheduled to testify is Comcast Corp.'s Greg Rigdon, an executive vice president of content acquisition.

To contact the reporters on this story: David McLaughlin in Washington at dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net, Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, Paul Cox

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