Today, the US District Court for the District of Columbia cleared the way for the world’s largest telecom to buy the world’s third-largest entertainment company, kicking off a new era in how content gets distributed online.

Pending appeal, AT&T will now be able to purchase Time Warner for $85 billion, bringing subsidiaries like CNN, HBO, and Warner Bros. movie studios along for the ride. Before today, AT&T’s holdings were mostly confined to distributing information, either through wireline internet, wireless phone service, or broadcast satellite TV. Now, it will own a major stake in some of the largest companies producing that content, with major implications for anyone trying to stream video online.

The ruling will have an immediate effect on some of AT&T’s cable competitors, too. On Monday, CNBC reported that Comcast was preparing to bid for 21st Century Fox if the AT&T deal went through, playing off a more permissive judicial atmosphere for major content acquisitions. Disney has already bid for the studio, and it’s still unclear which company will actually end up owning it, but the overall point is hard to miss. After Verizon bought AOL and Comcast bought NBCUniversal, carriers are very much in the content business. The only question is how they’re planning to press their new advantage.