Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is in prime position to take control of DirecTV after its only rival for the US satellite broadcaster withdrew from the bidding process.
Telecoms operator SBC, which has been tracking the pay-TV network all year (see
SBC Expresses Interest In DirecTV) this week broke off talks with Hughes Electronics, the owner of DirecTV. This leaves News Corp as the sole bidder for the company and a formal offer is expected early next week.
“It’s just a question of price,” Murdoch told Reuters after speaking at a conference in Beverley Hills yesterday.
DirecTV had more than 11 million subscribers at the end of 2002 and any deal would represent a major coup for the media mogul who has a long-held desire to break into the lucrative US market. A previous attempt to secure the broadcaster back in 2001 ended in failure (see Insight Analysis: Murdoch Walks Away From ‘Dream’ DirecTV Deal) but it is thought that News Corp could acquire the necessary assets for around $7 billion, less than a third of what it was prepared to pay two years ago.
Liberty Media, the cable giant owned by John Malone, has offered to help bankroll the deal (see Murdoch Set To Swoop For DirecTV) which would come hot on the heels of Murdoch’s successful acquisition of the Italian pay-TV network, Telepiù (see Murdoch To Rule The Roost Over Italian Pay-TV Market).
