Report: AT&T eyes DirecTV for acquisition

[IDemo]

Source: USA Today

AT&T has started discussions with DirecTV to possibly buy the satellite-TV operator, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Citing unnamed sources, the paper reported Wednesday evening that DirecTV would be "open to a deal."

AT&T and DirecTV couldn't be reached for comment. However, if confirmed the move would be the latest sign of possible changes for the television industry, which is going through a period of consolidation.

DirectTV's pre-market shares spiked 8.5% on Thursday. AT&T's pre-market shares fell 0.6%.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/05/01/att-directv-talks/8550777/

[onehandle]

1. Why bother? Comcast will own it all soon. nt

[lostincalifornia]

11. That is the reason they are doing it because they think if the comcast twc deal is viable, then so

is this. This is why the monopolistic deals should not be allowed to occur, it is bad for consumers and will result in non-competitive practices.

[Sunlei]

2. When will American consumers be 'free' to subscribe to out-side the USA services?

I think many American consumers are sick and tired of being forced to buy only from the 'company store'.

[KatyMan]

5. We lived in the UK and Ireland for about 7 years altogether...

and I would easily trade my Comcast subscription for SkyTV and access to the BBC channels, plus the other UK channels. They too have the same dreck on some stations that we have here, and they have just as strong a celebrity culture as we do (maybe even stronger), but damn the rest of their TV is awesome. Documentaries, great series, acceptable news coverage. Where else would Time Team or Meet the Ancestors be on in prime time? Or documentaries like Synth Brittania or Prog Brittania be the hit one off shows on a Friday night?

[Sunlei]

15. I am so thankful to BBC for all the shows they share with Americans.

Our Gov. lets whoever?block some of the public BBC content, some documentaries & great series, with a message of 'not available in your country'. I think consumers want to be free to shop globally for our services & personal bank accounts. Most Internet content should be free for everyone.

I would love to move to the UK or Ireland!

[bigworld]

16. Getting way off topic here

but Synth Britannia was fantastic. The BBC does an awesome job on all their music documentaries.

I was so shocked to see it mentioned!

[KatyMan]

17. wasn't it awesome?

I had no idea some of those bands went back so far...!

[bigworld]

6. There are a LOT of people subscribing to Canadian satellite services in the states

and many more using clever internet tricks to geo-locate, receiving BBC programmes on their computers. It's a shame that we have to resort to measures like that to get quality news or documentary programmes.

I'd gladly pay a US provider for legal access to shows and channels I'd like to watch. They just ain't providing!

[dembotoz]

3. would worry about att more than comcast

the cell phone part of the company makes them more dangerous


not that i like comcast.......

[Initech]

4. Great. Ma Bell grows new tentacles.

[PSPS]

13. The company called AT&T today is completely unrelated to the Bell System of old

What used to be the AT&T of the Bell System era sold the name AT&T many years ago. There isn't any "Ma Bell" anymore.

[tofuandbeer]

7. Damn! DirecTV was where I was going to go, to get away from the Time-Warner merger. WTF???

AT&T is a horrible company for the internet (endless drops, and after a year it was completely dead—and nobody there could figure it out or even cared). THE worst customer service I've ever encountered! I would never use them for satellite, cable or internet!

[Auggie]

8. I'l second that. AT&T has THE WORST customer service. Run, don't walk, from AT&T.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. There was also talk of Dish and Direct tv merging.

I must say, since we cut the tv cord a few years ago, I have found more stuff via internet to watch than I ever did with tv.
sports might be the exception, but we were not sports watchers with tv anyhow.
A small part of the tv hook up money we save each month goes to Netflix, the rest we bank.

[tofuandbeer]

14. I'll need to get around to that soon (dropping cable and going internet tv).

[joanbarnes]

9. AT&T equals EPIC fail. CEO needs to be fired.

[Tikki]

10. I've never had a problem with AT&T....don't want to go with Direct, though...

I'm with the crowd who wants to unbundle and pick up International channels.



Tikki

[2banon]

18. Doesn't Rupert Murdoch own Direct Tv?

He did several years ago.. wonder if anyone knows if he still owns that satellite company?