The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has begun the formal review process of News Corporation’s proposed acquisition of the US satellite operator DirecTV.
News Corp supremo Rupert Murdoch announced last month that a deal had been struck which would give his company a satellite foothold in the United States (see
Murdoch Seals Acquisition Of DirecTV). The plan is to model DirecTV on the BSkyB network which has a subscriber base of 6.7 million in the UK (see
BSkyB Adds 150k New Subs In Q3, Strong Financials).
During a recent appearance in front of a House of Representatives committee, Murdoch said: “Upon completion of the transaction, News Corp will bring the same spirit of innovation to the DBS business in the US in the process redefining the choices Americans have when they watch television.”
Concerns have been voiced that News Corp, which already owns the Fox Entertainment Network, could take advantage of its position to deny its channels to other platforms or block other networks from appearing on DirecTV.
However, Murdoch claims that it would not make commercial sense to pursue this course and he argues that News Corp and DirecTV are not large enough to influence the market anyway.
