The Wall Street Journal and LA Times are reporting that AT&T is in talks with DirecTV about a possible acquisition of the satellite business and—its 20 million customers.
Hot on the heels of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal, the newspapers report that the telecom giant may be trying to buy the satellite TV business for somewhere in the region of $40 billion. While the pairing may initially sound odd,the two already work together to provide services where the other doesn't reach.
The rumor comes just a month after Bloomberg reported that DirecTV and Dish Network were considering trying to merge. But if the new rumors are true, the DirecTV-AT&T joint-force would put 26 million customers under one brand. That's not dissimilar to the 30 million thrown together as part of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger.
Obviously, this is far from certain, and likely this is just one conversation of tens currently ongoing—it's just the one that's leaked. But it does suggest that the future of TV and telecom is slowly merging—and monopolising. [Wall Street Journal, LA Times]