SBC Drops Out Of DirecTV Bidding, Murdoch Stands Alone

from the king-of-the-hill? dept

In the continuing saga of Rupert Murdoch's dream acquisition of DirecTV, things just got much clearer. SBC, which had been the only other "serious" contender at this point, dropped out of the bidding, leaving Murdoch's News Corp as the sole bidder at this point. While there had been rumors that Liberty Media might make an independent bid, it looks like the News Corp bid will be in conjunction with Liberty Media (as was originally expected). Murdoch, of course has been trying to buy DirecTV for way too many years. There are some questions being raised as to whether or not the ridiculously long courtship (and intervening affair DirecTV had with EchoStar until the FCC broke them up) have turned DirecTV into damaged goods. Here's a company that, honestly, has been on the block or in the process of a merger for about three years. During that time, it was difficult for them to make long-term strategic moves, as they didn't know what they're long term view should be. At the same time, their biggest competitor going forward, EchoStar, got to spend plenty of time getting a good peak inside the secrets of DirecTV during their merger attempt. So, while EchoStar was certainly the underdog when this whole saga began, some believe they've moved well beyond DirecTV and will be better positioned going forward.