DIRECTV Could Buy Voom HD

[Poke]

Yeah I think Direct is having to look at all their options so they can come up with more HD Channels since they have less than Dish.


http://www.tvpredictions.com/directvvoom010307.htm

Published report says new owner Liberty Media is considering an offer.
By Phillip Swann

Washington, D.C. (January 3, 2007) -- Liberty Media, which recently purchased satcaster DIRECTV, is now interested in buying Rainbow Media, which includes 15 Voom High-Definition TV channels.

The New York Post reports that Liberty Media Chairman John Malone is engaging in "informal chatter" with the Dolan family, which owns Cablevision, which owns Rainbow Media.

Liberty Media is expected to take control of DIRECTV in the second half of the year. The company secured the satcaster in a stock swap with News Corp. late last year.

With DIRECTV expected to expand its high-def lineup later this year, the Voom HD programming lineup would be a nice addition.

EchoStar, a DIRECTV rival, currently has an equity stake in Voom, but that might not be an obstacle to Liberty Media making the deal. Malone recently said he may look to partner with EchoStar on various high-def projects.

In addition to Voom, Rainbow has the IFC, AMC, and WE (Women's Entertainment) channels.

According to Reuters, Cablevision officials refused to comment on the New York Post report. Liberty Media officials were not available for comment.

 

[Sean Mota]

Already here: http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?p=767398#post767398

 

[cforrest]

Actual article in the NY Post:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/0103200...t_business_peter_lauria_and_zachery_kouwe.htm

INTERCONNECT
By PETER LAURIA and ZACHERY KOUWE

January 3, 2007 -- Media maverick John Malone is reaching out to Cablevision's controlling Dolan family to gauge the family's interest in selling Rainbow Media, the unit that manages cable networks AMC, IFC and WE: Women's Entertainment, according to sources familiar with the matter.

While these people characterized the talks between Malone's Liberty Media and the Dolans as informal chatter between friendly moguls, they could easily become more serious as Cablevision's shareholders grow increasingly restless with the company's three-month silence regarding a decision on the family's $19.2 billion buyout proposal, sources said.

"Look, they have already done most of the analysis," said one shareholder, referring to a previous buyout proposal made by the Dolans in 2005. "All they have to do is plug in the new price and figure out what the company's fair value is."

Frustration over the foot-dragging has been compounded by the fact that two other companies, Clear Channel Communications and EMI Group, have already acted on offers to take them private that came well after the Dolans made their bid for Cablevision. Clear Channel agreed to a sale. EMI quickly said a takeover offer didn't reflect the company's full value.

Cablevision, meanwhile, has yet to act. The company set up a special committee, made up of board members Thomas Reifenheiser and John Ryan, but it has yet to publicly approve or reject the Dolans' offer and is unaware of a potential deal with Liberty, sources close to the committee said.

That suggests that any Rainbow talks haven't reached the point of Cablevision sharing confidential financial data, at which time the special committee would need to be notified.

Even so, it is widely believed that the Dolans will have to raise their $27 per-share offer to at least $30 in order to get a deal done. Cablevision's shares closed trading Friday at $28.48.

If the Dolans were to sweeten their bid, they'd either have to take on more debt or raise additional cash. Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch have agreed to provide up to $10.9 billion in debt financing, but Cablevision's existing lenders have capped the amount of debt the company can take on. Bear and Merrill recently extended the deadline for the Dolans to accept their funding commitments - already twice delayed - to Jan. 12. Enter Malone.

Representatives for Liberty, Cablevision and the Dolan family all declined comment for this story.

A deal for Rainbow's programming assets, which also include about 20 high-definition genre cable networks and a smattering of regional sports channels, could easily generate north of $2 billion.

For Malone, Rainbow's programming assets would solidify the foundation he now has with DirecTV, which last month he agreed to acquire as part of an asset exchange with News Corp., which publishes The Post.

"Now that he has DirecTV, Malone needs to build some synergies," said The Carmel Group's Jimmy Schaeffler. "QVC and Starz/Encore are good beginnings, but it sure would help if he had control of other content assets as well."

 

[Cyclone]

Good thing that Dish bought the satellite at 61.5.

 

[gdarwin]

DIRECTV Could Buy Voom HD

http://www.tvpredictions.com/directvvoom010307.htm

Published report says new owner Liberty Media is considering an offer.
By Phillip Swann Washington, D.C. (January 3, 2007) -- Liberty Media, which recently purchased satcaster DIRECTV, is now interested in buying Rainbow Media, which includes 15 Voom High-Definition TV channels.

The New York Post reports that Liberty Media Chairman John Malone is engaging in "informal chatter" with the Dolan family, which owns Cablevision, which owns Rainbow Media.

Liberty Media is expected to take control of DIRECTV in the second half of the year. The company secured the satcaster in a stock swap with News Corp. late last year.

 

[dfergie]

Also being discussed Here http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=85762

 

[Tom Bombadil]

How large a stake of Rainbow does E* own? I thought it was down in the 10% range.

 

[jerryez]

Malone does not have to buy Voom to get the channels, they are available to any company that wants to subscribe.

 

[OoTLink]

That's not the thing! If they bought voom, they'd kill voom on dish, first, then they could probably find some weirdass way to sue dish for broadcasting in HD, lol.

 

[hdtvtechno]

That's not the thing! If they bought voom, they'd kill voom on dish, first, then they could probably find some weirdass way to sue dish for broadcasting in HD, lol.

Confussed... whats that u mean ?