Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Murdoch wants out of DTV

As the NY Times writes Robert Murdoch's News Corp is looking to trade John Malone's stake in News Corp for DirecTV. John Malone runs Liberty Media, owners of QVC, Starz, Encore, Discovery Channel, Expedia, cable networks in Latin America, 20% of SprintPCS, 20% of News Corp and 4% of TW. Murdoch is souring on DTV.
During the last decade, DirecTV and its main domestic rival, EchoStar Communications, grabbed 27 million subscribers, a bit more than a quarter of the pay television market in the United States. While their growth is slowing, they are still doing well financially. In the second quarter, DirecTV earned $459 million, up 182 percent from a year earlier. Its revenue grew 12 percent, to $3.5 billion. ... “Historically, satellite has had three advantages versus cable: it had better picture quality, more channels and a better price-value equation,” Mr. Moffett said. But digital systems have allowed the cable companies to improve quality and selection, and inexpensive Internet phone service has given them the edge on price as well." [NY Times]

No comments: