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It is in the breaking news sidebar!
Posted on 04/09/2003 11:41:17 PM PDT by Future Useless Eater
By Acquiring DirecTV, Murdoch Gets Upper Hand
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Rupert Murdoch's begging days are over.
Six years ago, when Mr. Murdoch was starting the Fox News Channel, he was reduced to pleading with Time Warner Cable to carry it in New York, reportedly offering more than $100 million to the company and eventually enlisting Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Gov. George E. Pataki in a political battle to get Fox on the air.
But with the agreement yesterday to acquire the satellite broadcaster DirecTV, Mr. Murdoch, chairman of the News Corporation, can transmit his own channels into homes across the country, redoubling the company's bargaining power with cable operators, television networks and Hollywood studios.
The merger may bode well for consumers because Mr. Murdoch, who spent much of his career waging cutthroat price wars as a newspaper publisher, is expected to escalate DirecTV's competition with cable companies for pay television subscribers by adding services and possibly holding down rates. But almost everyone else in the entertainment industry stands to lose from News Corporation's new might.
In a conference call yesterday, Mr. Murdoch spoke enthusiastically of new satellite set-top boxes that can reschedule programs and skip commercials, threatening havoc on networks advertising and schedules. In negotiations with Disney, Viacom and AOL Time Warner and other cable network owners over carrying their channels on DirecTV, Mr. Murdoch will be able to bring extra leverage to bear because News Corporation may own or start similar networks. In negotiating with film studios or sports companies over pay television rights, News Corporation is now the only global customer, with satellite systems spanning Europe, Asia and Latin America as well as the United States.
The deal's most immediate effect, however, will be on the cable television business. News Corporation will own both a large pay-television distribution system in DirecTV and valuable programming businesses like the Fox News Channel, Fox Family, the Fox regional sports networks and a new sports network, Fuel, as well as many local stations and the 20th Century Fox film studios. At the same time that News Corporation's DirecTV unit competes with cable companies for subcribers, it can raise their costs by bargaining more aggressively for access to its programming or pressure cable companies for better placement for its channels.
In an interview on the Fox News Channel a few minutes after the deal was announced yesterday, Mr. Murdoch, 72, said, "We plan to bring a lot of competition for the viewers and a better viewing experience and better opportunities for Fox, too."
Some analysts said the structure of the deal suggested Mr. Murdoch hoped to use DirecTV mainly to punish other pay television companies and benefit his programming businesses. Fox Entertainment Group, an 80 percent owned subsidiary of News Corporation, will own a 34 percent stake in DirecTV's parent, creating the potential for programming deals that favor Fox over DirecTV.
... News Corporation is not the only company with both major programming and distribution businesses. AOL Time Warner also owns film studios and cable networks. But AOL Time Warner's businesses often negotiate at arms length from one another. As the controlling shareholder who built News Corporation, Mr. Murdoch retains an unusually strong command over its operations.
... A spokesman for News Corporation said the company saw a great opportunity to expand DirecTV and benefit its shareholders, in addition the advantages of providing distribution for Fox's programming.
... Comcast, Disney, AOL Time Warner and EchoStar declined to comment.
John Tinker, an analyst at Blaylock & Partners, said Mr. Murdoch's history in Britain suggested a stiff challenge to cable companies.
... John Mansell, an analyst at Kagan Media World, noted many local cable systems had not yet been upgraded, including much of the terroritory recently acquired by Comcast, putting new pressure on Comcast and others to step up their investments. He noted that satellite transmission technology might soon improve enough to match cable's ability to deliver video-on-demand and high-speed internet services. And unlike cable operators, DirecTV's reach extends throughout the country, beyond the limited territory of any cable system. DirecTV reaches 11 million subscribers, as many as Time Warner Cable and half as many as Comcast.
Mr. Mansell also noted that the deal might not provide unadulterated benefits to consumers, depending on how much Mr. Murdoch opens up access to the company's programming. Although Mr. Murdoch has pledged to offer News Corporation's programming to other pay television operators on the same terms as they are offered to DirecTV, he may still raise the price of some events or channels, since one company he controls, DirecTV, will be paying another, News Corporation's Fox Entertainment.
A spokesman for News Corporation, however, said the company would not charge excessive prices for its programming.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Let liberals pay EXTRA for Viacom's trash and Ted Turner's brainwashing.
Checkout http://www.direcway.com too, for a cool 2-way satellite broadband system that's compatible with DirecTV.
There seems to be an open Studio :^>
MSNBC - US Forces Have Taken Control & Are Broadcasting On Iraqi TV.
While I have great respect for Murdock as a cutthroat capitalist, the DirectTV equipment doesn't receive the Skyangel service of Christian broadcasting. This is only available on DishNetwork equipment.
Also on Dish you can buy alacart at something like $5.00 per channel. So if you only wanted foxnews it would only cost you $5.
(Anyone interested in researching the current state of direct to home Satelite TV check out DBSForums.com which will have all the info you'd ever want to see on the subject.
While I have great respect for Murdock as a cutthroat capitalist, the DirectTV equipment doesn't receive the Skyangel service of Christian broadcasting. This is only available on DishNetwork equipment.Rupert just inked the deal yesterday! and it may not get approved by the guvmint before the end of the year.
Also on Dish you can buy alacart at something like $5.00 per channel. So if you only wanted foxnews it would only cost you $5.
Give him some time and he will probably out-do DishNetwork in all areas. It's nice to see Dish is offering a few channels at 'a la carte' pricing, and I hope Rupert does the same.
It doesn't look like you can 'a la carte' FoxNews though from them for any price, so anyone wanting just FNC and a few basics, has to pay $450 per year to DishNetwork, with most of that money going to Ted Turner and Hillary's personal piggy-bank: Viacom.
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