AT&T Eyeing a Bid for DirecTV?
AT&T is exploring the prospects of buying the satellite TV provider DirecTV in a deal that could be worth $40 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The WSJ cites a source familiar with the situation who says that DirecTV is "open" to the possibility of deal, though it is unclear whether talks are under way.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) would be stepping right on Dish Network LLC (Nasdaq: DISH)'s toes if it managed to snap up DirecTV. Successive Dish CEOs have said that a Dish-DirecTV merger is possible. (See Dish CEO: DirecTV Merger Possible.)
Any deal proposed would, of course, be subject to big-time regulatory scrutiny.
DirecTV's stock was buoyed by the M&A chatter, rising $4.14 (or 5.36%) to $81.75 as of Thursday afternoon. AT&T dropped 25 cents to $35.45.
— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading
AT&T would surely be after the huge subscription list to add to it's customer base as well as the opportunities to enter a new business profit area. But, lots of scrutiny would surely come along with that move.
What would prevent those same subs to just say no to AT&T and jump to Dish instead?
Companies must be getting a good read on a likely approval for Comcast Time Warner Cable, as they seem happy to try and push for deals you wouldn't think would normally get approved (Sprint T-Mobile). "Hell, you approved that deal, why not ours?"
http://www.techpolicyinstitute.org/blog/2014/04/by-scott-wallsten-and-corwin-rhyan/.
But, beyond this latest "status" on the industry itself, there is the power that will be exerted by the distributors...as exemplified by what happened w/the Weather Channel:
http://mashable.com/2014/04/08/weather-channel-directv-deal/?utm_cid=mash-prod-email-topstories&utm_emailalert=daily&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily