AT&T Buying DirecTV for $48.5 Billion

AT&T is acquiring satellite TV provider DirecTV in a deal worth $48.5 billion. This will bring 20 million more U.S. television subscribers under AT&T's roof, making it the second biggest TV provider, behind Comcast. The deal is subject to regulatory approval, and to help that along, AT&T says it will sell its 8% stake in America Movil, which is a competitor to DirecTV in some areas. "By acquiring the country’s biggest satellite television operator, AT&T will help bolster its competitive position against Comcast. Though pay television is considered a mature market whose subscriber growth has slowed dramatically in recent years, the business nonetheless generates billions of dollars in cash. ... Part of the attraction may be DirecTV’s ample cash flow. While its business has shown little growth in recent years, it generated about $8 billion in earnings last year. Much of that will go toward future investments in growth, AT&T said, including bidding at least $9 billion for wireless network capacity that the government plans to auction off soon. By gaining satellite TV, AT&T may also be able to free up capacity on its existing broadband network."

Re:This has to be a troll post

[symbolset]

AT&T charges their broadband customers $30/month++ to opt out of traffic monitoring for ad targeting.

The cynic in me

[Jahoda]

Cannot help but observe how convenient it will be for the American surveillance state when we have only two sources for delivery of media and internet to the home. But I'm sure this is just paranoid lunacy, right?

Re:This has to be a troll post

[mordenkhai]

I have had the opposite experience. Had DirecTV for 2 years, took them months to figure out why the HD channels had issues. Finally after I missed the last minute of a series finale for a personal favorite show I called and finally got someone who asked me to check satellite #2 signal, I didn't know there was a Satellite #2. The guy said "Yeah it is the HD feed". Sure enough, the dish hadn't been installed correctly. They came out and fixed it, but it was too late. As soon as my contract was up I left and tried Uverse, been good. Did a stint with Comcast as they entered the area with XFinity, and had a 50% off deal. After that, I am back at Uverse with no plans to leave.