Dish-Direct Merger? I'm a "Swanni" too!
I have gazed into my mirror, and Swammi-Troll says:
This time because if Rupert wants it to happen, it will happen--and darn quick before his good-buddy Republicans in Congress, who really do influence the FCC and Justice Department, are out of office if the Dems should stumble into power. A shame Rupy can't have *E buy *D, that would be a lot cheaper, but that would be a true repeat of what failed. "This time, Mr. Regulators, it's the other way round, and those nasty, once-hacked to pieces telcos are re-animating again."
As for the supposed Charlie vs. Rupy feud, they really are two of a kind. Massive cost cutters who really do manage to squeeze blood out of turnips (Murdoch actually inventoried ashtrays) and who’ve never seen a cost-cut they didn’t like. As much as people talk about the "bad blood" and the fact that we know how Charlie has to be numero uno, there really is no other person in the world Rupert Murdoch would want more to run the--speculatively--newly merged Sat Co than Mr. Charles Ergan himself.
As for Ergan? Can he really just "go down the road" as he once said about selling Echostar? Me thinks not. Dish is too near and dear to him, and he is far too young to walk away from it now. No, I have no doubt that the only real hurdle for Rupert Murdoch is finding some way to persuade Ergan to stay on. After all, Charlie and *D execs have used the word "Merger" not buyout. And although Murdoch is the ultimate micro-manager (even personally approving news anchors at his L.A. Fox station, and known for repeatedly calling his various top execs several times a day), Rupy is just dying to let loose the Echostar hounds, Ergan top dog, through the fat-laden halls of Direct TV headquarters. Can you hear them trembling in El Segundo above the din of the landing jets at LAX across the way? That can be arranged, allowing Ergan quite of bit of control while agreeing in the near future Murdoch absolute control upon Charlie's retirement. As for Ergan often being cited as "feisty"? Well, it resulted in a big savings for Dish regarding Lifetime channels, so much so that Direct TV sued Lifetime for daring to give Dish a better deal than Direct got. And that is what Rupert really wants: more $$$$. "I'll handle the politicians, mate. You go on and get those rates down from those @%$#* programmers, mate. Cheers."
No, it wouldn't be bad blood. Ergan really is the son Murdoch never had: a corporate soul-mate, the bare-foot boy from Tennessee who sleeps in his spreadsheets and views corporate perks as bleeds from the spreadsheets. Ergan has proved, without a doubt, that you don't have to pay execs $35 million a year to create a powerhouse of a DBS service that did what all his detractors said Dish could never do. And Ergan, ever the tortoise, changed everything--even giving the dawdling, desperate hare, Direct TV, renewed value, causing Murdoch's sudden re-interest in DBS in the USA after he initially fled the scene leaving the poor "bare-foot boy"--business school grad, financial analyst, and son of an engineer--holding the bag. Only Murdoch can tell us how that move ranks among his greatest corporate "Dooohh" moments. While *D execs use words to describe the benefits of acquiring Dish, it is Ergan who uses the language of numbers, communicating the concise $3 billion dollar figure statement. And that is the Siren's song to Murdoch's never ending quest for Imperial dominance, and that is why Rupe will be compelled to do almost anything to co-host, along with Ergan, a welcome aboard corporate tea party in El Segundo: a Charlie Chat followed by a Charlie Slash of Direct TV’s alarmingly high operating costs, overweight passengers included.
The only piece missing to make this a perfect corporate trifecta, in the view of some, is the subsequent union with DBS cousin Sirius Satellite Radio to beget the equally maniacal cost crunching Mel Karmazin. Then, it really would be a triple-slash: Freddie, Alien, and Predator. Cast the roles as you see fit.
