AT&T & DirecTV Reportedly Near $50 Billion Deal To Put Satellite On Death Star

Who has time to destroy planets when you can watch all out-of-market NFL games live?

Who has time to destroy planets when you can watch all out-of-market NFL games live?

Spring is in the air, and the rumors of a blossoming romance between AT&T and DirecTV are heating up. The latest gossip from those always dependable “sources close to the situation” is that the nation’s #2 wireless provider and its #1 satellite TV service are haggling over the details of a deal worth $50 billion.

The Wall Street Journal reports that an engagement between these two lovestruck companies could happen within the next two weeks, while Bloomberg adds that DirecTV would continue operating under its established brand as a unit of AT&T. It’s not known who would run the division in the long-run, as DirecTV CEO Mike White (again, not this Mike White) is slated to retire in at the end of 2015.

As we’ve written before, both businesses stand to benefit from this merger. AT&T could use the cash influx from the deal to build out its slowly expanding broadband and pay-TV network. It would also give AT&T more business in Latin America. DirecTV would eventually be able to offer a TV and Internet package that actually competes with terrestrial cable.

There may be opposition from Dish Network, the only other major U.S. satellite provider, as it would likely see itself as being at a competitive disadvantage to a combined DirecTV/AT&T. However, Dish is reportedly interested in a merger of its own with T-Mobile, which is being pursued by Sprint.

Our prediction: Within 7 years, all of this consolidation means we’ll all be left to do business with only three companies that will control everything — Comcast, MillerCoors, and LEGO.

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