The busy summer telecom merger season continues apace. Late yesterday, AT&T filed its paperwork with the FCC, officially kicking off the regulatory process that the company needs to get through in order to buy DirecTV and allow the two to live happily ever after. [More]
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AT&T/DirecTV File Merger Docs With FCC, Argue They Need To Merge To Compete Against Comcast
By 6.12.14
AT&T Wants To Bring NFL Sunday Ticket To Its Wireless Customers
By 6.9.14
As we mentioned a few weeks ago, DirecTV’s exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket package is so vital to the satellite service’s business that AT&T can walk away from the two companies’ pending $49 billion merger if DirecTV and the NFL are unable to renew their contract. Now AT&T is trying to convince investors that Sunday Ticket could be a boon to its wireless business. [More]
FCC Could Use Mergers To Force Net Neutrality, But Shouldn’t
By 5.23.14
It’s a big year for the FCC. It’s got two huge mergers to review — Comcast/Time Warner Cable, AT&T/DirecTV — while also trying to reinstate the recently gutted net neutrality laws without ticking off the entire Internet. These related issues put the FCC in a position to force some cable operators to accept stricter net neutrality, but that’s really just kicking the can down the road. [More]
6 Things Consumers Can Expect If AT&T and DirecTV Merge
By 5.21.14
2014 is apparently the year of the TV merger. Over the weekend AT&T and DirecTV announced their plans to join in corporate marriage. So if a phone giant buys a satellite giant, what’s the end result for consumers? [More]
AT&T Can Walk Away From DirecTV Deal If NFL Sunday Ticket Not Renewed
By 5.20.14
Over the weekend, AT&T and DirecTV announced a huge $49 billion merger deal to make the nation’s largest satellite provider even larger and bolster the second-largest wireless provider’s efforts to compete with Verizon. But this merger could all fall to pieces if DirecTV doesn’t renew its exclusive deal with the NFL. [More]
AT&T Makes Deal To Acquire DirecTV, Bring Satellite Service To Death Star
By 5.18.14
After weeks of being spotted together walking hand in hand in the park (under the mindful eyes of their banker chaperones), AT&T and DirecTV have officially announced they want to spend the rest of their lives in wedded bliss. Of course, since happiness isn’t always free, said bliss involves AT&T paying $49 billion in stock and cash. [More]
AT&T & DirecTV Reportedly Near $50 Billion Deal To Put Satellite On Death Star
By 5.12.14
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. [More]
AT&T And DirecTV Meeting Up For Coffee To See If There Is A Merger Spark There
By 5.8.14
After liking each other’s profile photos on OKtelecupid.com, a corporate dating site we just made up, AT&T and DirecTV are taking the all-important next step of meeting up for coffee and chat (along with regular bathroom breaks to text their bankers with updates) to see if wedded bliss is in their future. [More]
AT&T Reportedly Interested In Wooing DirecTV, Completing Death Star
By 5.1.14
While the pending marriage of Comcast and Time Warner Cable has had people thinking about DirecTV and Dish giving wedded bliss another try, a new report says a different suitor has DirecTV in its lustful gaze: AT&T. [More]
Weather Channel Returns To DirecTV, But With Less Reality Programming
By 4.9.14
Three months after a standoff over fees left 20 million DirecTV customers without The Weather Channel, the station is making a return to the satellite service. But in order to get that large audience back, the Weather folks have had to agree to some changes in its programming, which some had criticized as being too focused on things other than just telling people about the weather. [More]
Could A Merger Between DirecTV And Dish Be On The Horizon?
By 3.28.14
Last month, in the wake of the news that Comcast would try to gobble up Time Warner Cable, billionaire Dish Network co-founder and Chairman Charlie Ergen asked a reasonable question: If the two biggest terrestrial cable companies could merge, why couldn’t the two largest satellite TV services? Now it looks like Ergen may once again be trying to make that marriage a reality. [More]
Have Fun Breaking Down This Year’s Worst Company In America Bracket
March 18, 2014
The above bracket will be updated at the end of each day of WCIA competition to reflect that day’s results.
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After going through all of your nominations, then having y’all rank the contenders and eliminate the chaff from the wheat, we’re proud to present the first round match-ups for this year’s Worst Company in America tournament! [More]
Here Are Your Worst Company Contenders For 2014 — Help Us Seed The Brackets!
March 17, 2014
After sorting through a mountain of nomination e-mails, we’ve whittled down the field of competitors for this year’s Worst Company In America tournament to 40 bad businesses. Here’s your chance to have your say on how these players will square off in the bracket, and which bubble teams will get left out in the cold. [More]
Dish CEO: If Comcast Can Buy TWC, Then We Can Merge With DirecTV
By 2.24.14
As we mentioned last week, if regulators approve the pending marriage of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, it would put pressure on the nation’s two largest satellite operators to combine in order to compete. And while Dish co-founder and Chairman Charlie Ergen isn’t talking about a tie-up with DirecTV just yet, he is pointing out that it would be hypocritical for the Comcast deal to be approved and a satellite merger to be denied. [More]
Why DirecTV and Dish Customers Should Care About Time Warner Cable/Comcast Deal
By 2.21.14
While many cable subscribers around the country are dreading the impact that a merged Time Warner Cable and Comcast could have on pricing for TV and Internet service, some satellite customers have shrugged off the news. But a tie-up between the two largest terrestrial cable companies could have far-reaching consequences for all pay-TV subscribers. [More]
UPDATE: Weather Channel Goes Dark On DirecTV
By 1.13.14
UPDATE: Shortly after midnight ET on Tuesday, DirecTV customers no longer had access to The Weather Channel. [More]
DirecTV, TWC, Charter Mulling Over Aereo-Like Services
By 10.28.13
While Aereo — the online service that transmits over-the-air network feeds to subscribers’ computers and mobile devices — is slugging it out with broadcasters in court, the operators of several cable and satellite services are reportedly looking to launch similar products of their own, setting the stage for an all-new TV war. [More]
DirecTV Installer Starts House Fire, Family Now Watching Cable In A Hotel
By 9.4.13
There are six words that you never want to hear from someone who’s doing work on your home: “Do you have a fire extinguisher?” That’s what an Ohio family heard from the man installing DirecTV in their house this week. Turns out that what they thought was drywall dust was smoke, and the installer had hit the house’s main power line while drilling in the garage. Oops. [More]
