DirecTV, EchoStar drop on FCC comments

[riffjim4069]

Not enough competition...YET!

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LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Shares of DirecTV Group Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp. fell in early trading Friday in the wake of comments from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin that seemed to put the kibosh on a possible merger between the two.

DISH fell 4% after Martin said at an investor conference that not enough competition has developed to warrant a merger between the nation's two primary direct broadcast satellite carriers.

The FCC nixed an attempt by the two to merge in 2002.

 

[MikeD-C05]

So how about in 4 years from now in 2010? Will there be enough competition then to allow a merger of the two sat companies?

 

[Van]

Not unless someone decides to make a company and not give it to a family member that will shut it down and sell it off once he gets his hands on it. Niether company is serious about any atempts at a merger now, if they were then they would have went ahead with previous plans to finance and asist that upstate new york cable company that wanted to get into dbs as was part of the original merger plans in 02. Further I dont know why anyone would expect the FCC or FTC to allow this merger to go through when there is no other competition out there, lets be a little realistic people and stop screwin around with my stock.

 

[Stargazer]

They will probably deem that there is enough competition when Dish and Direct start losing customers.

 

[charper1]

They are exactly right; the competition must come from a source that can offer a NATIONAL option or something close like maybe 75% or more coverage. This is why comparing DBS to regional providers is not really apples to apples.

 

[riffjim4069]

Video competition will come with the passing of new cable franchise reform legislation now in the Senate. Verizon and AT&T are spread across several states, and other local and national IPTV offerings will only add to the competitive landscape. The key issue is "video competion" and not the delivery mechanism. I still see D* and E* having to merge at some point in the future.

 

[waltinvt]

As we approach digital saturation isn't one of the key factors going to be what is ultimately decided regarding "must carry"?

Unless everyone's playing by the same rules, it's not apples to apples.

 

[JohnH]

Seemed like the Commisioner's statement indicated that FIOS would be the competition, but it had not grown sufficiently enough to be considered yet.

 

[David_Levin]

They will probably deem that there is enough competition when Dish and Direct start losing customers.

I agree. Satellite is going to be hard hit by fios. Even cables current VOD offering makes sat look a bit sad.

They'll be allowed to merge when they both start losing money....

 

[Tom Bombadil]

This has a potential impact upon the Murdoch negotations with John Malone & Liberty. There are rumors that Malone's goal is to take control of D* and then merge with E* and have a controlling interest in the sole remaining DBS company.

He might not be as interesting in trading his News Corp stock for D* if the winds are blowing against a merger with E*.