AT&T To Buy DIRECTV for $67 Billion

[Mr Tony]

glad I got rid of Directv earlier this year. Looks like this may be a bad deal for folks

 

[gadgtfreek]

Id' really be surprised if anything actually changes. I just see bundle madness. Not sure if having uverse and directv subs would give them better bargaining power.

 

[David_Levin]

In one respect, there is way too much consolidation, but if you consider all the providers doing internet streaming it seems more diverse then ever. There is no one provider with access to all programming. Home entertainment delivery is still in a rapidly changing state. The Internet is allowing people to cut the cable and create an alacart programming package. More and more people are going to figure out TV isn't worth $200/month & streaming lets you watch on you're schedule.

I think satellite is going to become a niche market mostly for people still lacking high speed internet. Direct and Dish will eventually merge (remember XM & Sirus). They need to be big to have sufficient weight to fight the rising Media Costs.

I love my Hopper and my cool library of 25 packed Hard Drives, but let's face it, there would be a lot less grief if I could just stream at will.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

The only way this will really fail is if AT&T does something so egregiously bad that the NFL forces it to lose its exclusivity to NFL Sunday Ticket. You can be sure that DISH Network & major cable companies like Comcast will go after NFL ST then,although it will be impossible for cable companies to get exclusivity for NFL ST because they are not accessible everywhere & in every market like Satellite TV is.
Wouldn't it be something that if the only way for this deal to go through,besides ATT giving up land lines,DSL,& U-Verse like I proposed earlier,Directv had to give up exclusive rights to NFL Sunday Ticket?

 

[raoul5788]

AT&T is selling their landlines and Uverse here in CT.

 

[dishfan82]

U-verse is not available here and probably never will. So is AT&T pulling out from doing U-verse expansion and focusing on Directv? Yet they send me their U-verse flyers all the time. Less competition is bad.


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[gadgtfreek]

In one respect, there is way too much consolidation, but if you consider all the providers doing internet streaming it seems more diverse then ever. There is no one provider with access to all programming. Home entertainment delivery is still in a rapidly changing state. The Internet is allowing people to cut the cable and create an alacart programming package. More and more people are going to figure out TV isn't worth $200/month & streaming lets you watch on you're schedule.

I think satellite is going to become a niche market mostly for people still lacking high speed internet. Direct and Dish will eventually merge (remember XM & Sirus). They need to be big to have sufficient weight to fight the rising Media Costs.

I love my Hopper and my cool library of 25 packed Hard Drives, but let's face it, there would be a lot less grief if I could just stream at will.

I'd take 20 or 30mbps HSI and IPTV/streaming tv service and never look back. As far behind as we usually run, it would just be great if it was all on demand. I'm tired of dealing with 30+ timers, Im tired of wondering if the HDD is going to fail with over 80 hours sitting on it.

 

[DBS Commando]

Sources saying that deal is done - official confirmation tomorrow or monday

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-17/at-t-directv-said-to-aim-to-complete-deal-by-monday.html

 

[Jimbo]

Well, the BreakingNews/BreakingMoney twitter account just tweeted a bit ago that AT&T will announce the acquisition of DirecTV tomorrow. But then, their source is BuzzFeed, of all places, so be sure to have your grains of salt handy.

Mergers like this are bad for everybody. We don't need less competition and bigger telecom/media companies; Comcast needs to be broken up, not allowed to get even bigger by buying up TWC. And if this deal goes through, I'm done with D*.

Admit it, your done with D* regardless weather this goes thru or not ...

THIS is NOT gonna make you break a 2 year commitment.

This whole thing STARTED with the TWC/ Comcast deal or talk of, (did that ever go thru ?)
Had they not done thier deal, I don't think D* and at&t would have got this one going.

For those of you that think that this is the worst thing EVER and that att will ruin everything ...
Fine, lets see how many of you REALLY LEAVE.

Please post as your leaving ...


BTW, wheres the uproar over the TWC/ Comcast deal being so bad for competition, not many complained till ATT got thier deal going with D*.

What, it's OK for someone else ?


I've held my tongue long enough ....

Gotta love it when your not allowed to improve yourselves and serve MORE customers.

 

[Jimbo]

AT&T is selling their landlines and Uverse here in CT.

That doesn't mean its gonna happen everywhere, the Connecticut market was not wanted according to both sides.

 

[84686F6173205479]

IF this merger were to happen, then pray really hard that ATT won't mess up NFL ST's exclusivity.

 

[Joe The Dragon]

IF this merger were to happen, then pray really hard that ATT won't mess up NFL ST's exclusivity.

the u-verse platform can't make it work for business to the steam limits maybe for home but they need to show the D* mix channel that is only the bandwidth of 1-2 HD channels.

 

[DetFan]

Admit it, your done with D* regardless weather this goes thru or not ...

THIS is NOT gonna make you break a 2 year commitment.

This whole thing STARTED with the TWC/ Comcast deal or talk of, (did that ever go thru ?)
Had they not done thier deal, I don't think D* and at&t would have got this one going.

For those of you that think that this is the worst thing EVER and that att will ruin everything ...
Fine, lets see how many of you REALLY LEAVE.

Please post as your leaving ...


BTW, wheres the uproar over the TWC/ Comcast deal being so bad for competition, not many complained till ATT got thier deal going with D*.

What, it's OK for someone else ?


I've held my tongue long enough ....

Gotta love it when your not allowed to improve yourselves and serve MORE customers.

Best post of the night. I didn't like the twc/Comcast thing. This AT&T/ Directv thing not sure how I feel but who says AT&T money won't make it better? I'm curious to say the least.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[lacubs]

Sources saying that deal is done - official confirmation tomorrow or monday http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-17/at-t-directv-said-to-aim-to-complete-deal-by-monday.html

i read that want announced it on Sunday because they want to open up with ATT stock Monday with direcTV under there belt

 

[mike123abc]

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles...93048?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories&mg=reno64-wsj

The boards of AT&T Inc. T +0.60% and DirecTV DTV +1.25% plan to meet on Sunday to approve a combination of the two companies, people familiar with the matter said, in a deal that will create a new pay television giant as its rivals in the cable industry bulk up.

AT&T will pay a dollar amount in the mid-90s per share for the satellite television provider, putting the value of the deal at almost $50 billion, one of the people said.

A deal could be announced as soon as Sunday afternoon, the person said.

DIRECTV could be AT&T's new cash cow to be milked:

AT&T is pursuing a two-track approach with video, expanding its U-verse pay-TV service while also building over-the-top services to deliver video content over broadband and wireless connections. An acquisition of DirecTV could give the telecom giant more clout with content companies to negotiate deals to distribute movies and television shows over the Internet and wireless devices. It could also free up space on its wired network to offer faster broadband speeds and more video-on-demand services by shifting the bandwidth-heavy live television transmission to the satellite.

Analysts and investors are concerned, however, that the deal lacks strategic merit. The satellite TV business has stagnated and needs an Internet strategy, they argue. Many on Wall Street would have preferred AT&T pursued DirecTV rival Dish Network Corp., which holds billions of dollars worth of wireless spectrum.

A deal for DirecTV could offer financial benefits by generating cash AT&T can use to help pay its dividend. Investors have been concerned about AT&T's ability to maintain its dividend following a worrying cash flow outlook earlier this year. The company has insisted its dividend is sacrosanct.

The cash from DirecTV could also help AT&T fund a faster buildout its broadband network in the U.S. Since the announcement of the Comcast deal, AT&T has announced plans to accelerate its wired network upgrades.

 

[Jimbo]

i read that want announced it on Sunday because they want to open up with ATT stock Monday with direcTV under there belt

Good idea actually.
That said, is 1 day gonna make that big of a difference, seeing it would be either Monday or Tuesday for the Stock change.

 

[Aridon]

I read in a couple of places that AT&T was planning on upgrading the existing copper with fiber. I wonder if this deal goes through if they'll continue that and push hard to compete with Comcast and the other big boys in the internet area or if they'll just buy D* and sit on their laurels.

Either way for me Uverse is garbage for both TV and Internet. Picking up D* makes the TV worthy now it will be interesting to see if the deal goes through what they do on the net side of things.

AT&T could come out of this a huge power house if they invest in fiber. Could you imagine bundling D* with, excellent wireless and 100mbs fiber for a lowish price?

I'd consider signing back up.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

Since I have both Directv & ATT 6.0 Fast DSL anyway,I see no problem with this merger. I wonder if the new name will be AT&T Directv,just like AT&T U-Verse? Also,since HOPFULLY I have finally been able to bundle my DSL internet service with Directv,I wonder when I'll to get a single bill for both instead of two separate bills?

 

[Jimbo]

Since I have both Directv & ATT 6.0 Fast DSL anyway,I see no problem with this merger. I wonder if the new name will be AT&T Directv,just like AT&T U-Verse? Also,since HOPFULLY I have finally been able to bundle my DSL internet service with Directv,I wonder when I'll to get a single bill for both instead of two separate bills?

I would imagine eventually they billing would be merged, but I wouldn't expect it any time soon.

When you call in to D* they are already answering ATT Directv if your an att sub ....

Interesting that I have them answer that way whenever I call in, going by my phone number that comes up, however, I am not an att sub.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

As long as the CE program isn't disputed or stopped...........