Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com or at 703-505-3064.
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"There is a strategic
logic to having one
satellite company
servicing a country like
the United States, and
certainly if I look at
where content costs are,
there is probably more
of a case for that,"
White told the Sanford
C. Bernstein conference
last week in New York.
Rumors that the nation's
top two satellite TV
services would merge
have surfaced and
resurfaced for years.
And the two companies
actually tried once, but
the FCC rejected the
proposal in 2002 on
grounds that it would be
anti-competitive.
The Hollywood Reporter
writes that White noted
that getting a merger
approved in Washington
today would still be a
problem. In fact, he
said that with the Obama
administration in power,
it would be a
"non-starter."
However, that comment is
being interpreted by
some that DIRECTV and
Dish might give it a try
if Obama loses in
November, giving way to
a Republican
administration and a FCC
more receptive to merger
proposals.
White's biggest interest
in discussing a merger
appears to be exploring
ways to reduce costs on
acquiring programming
from the networks and
others. DIRECTV has
lamented that the
broadcast and cable
networks are increasing
their demands for pay TV
operators to carry their
channels.
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