AT&T booked a $15.5 billion charge on its pay-television business, reflecting the damage cord-cutting has taken on its direct TV satellite unit even as the company's HBO Max streaming service's growth ramped up.

The write-down created a fourth quarter loss as the media and telecommunications giant weighs the potential sale of its pay TV assets and executives focus their investments on newer technologies. The company reported quarterly revenue declines in its legacy video and WarnerMedia units, offsetting gains in its core wireless-phone division.

1. Citing the FASB accounting standard codification reference, summarize U.S. accounting requirements for impairment evaluation

2. Discuss the qualitative factors(see text for discussion of factors) that you believe requires further evaluation for potential impairment for AT&T and other US companies mentioned in referenced articles

3. In your answer to 2 above, did you consider poor management as a factor? Why or why not?