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Second Thoughts on DIRECTV Sale?..
News Corp. sold its controlling stake in DIRECTV to Liberty Media back in February. Yet, since the sale, there apparently has been some second-guessing about the decision by the media giant's chairman and CEO, Rupert Murdoch.
At the Goldman Sachs Communacpia Conference in New York City Wednesday, Murdoch said he thought the satellite TV giant would be impacted by cable's triple-play and a growing telco video threat. "I may be wrong about that," he said during the event. "They did a fantastic job there" at DIRECTV, especially with the company's high-def programming push, Murdoch added.
"I thought it was going to be more affected by the triple play and everything than it has been," Murdoch said. "So I might have been wrong. I don't think I'm wrong in the long term."
Murdoch also said News Corp. plans to "do everything we do now better," including strengthening its programming efforts and newspapers, "making these franchises stronger." The company also is eying opportunities in emerging markets, including India.
Meanwhile, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, speaking at the same Goldman Sachs conference, suggested that DIRECTV may get by without a broadband component. "I think we've absorbed most of that triple-play threat," he said.
"The reality is over half of our customers at DIRECTV have high-speed access. They are able to find either best of breed or bundles or we help them find (something) to be competitive," he said. "I don't think there is an opportunity for us, realistically, to easily go out and create our own broadband solution."
That includes a wireless broadband solution. "We suggested that claiming you need one, which pushes you to do a WiMAX deal that you may not really want to do but makes a good press release, isn't necessarily the long term, correct strategy," he said.
The Liberty executive also said his company and DIRECTV are exploring potential growth areas overseas, including Latin American and elsewhere. And Maffei said the two sides continue to explore new content opportunities.
News Corp. sold its controlling stake in DIRECTV to Liberty Media back in February. Yet, since the sale, there apparently has been some second-guessing about the decision by the media giant's chairman and CEO, Rupert Murdoch.
At the Goldman Sachs Communacpia Conference in New York City Wednesday, Murdoch said he thought the satellite TV giant would be impacted by cable's triple-play and a growing telco video threat. "I may be wrong about that," he said during the event. "They did a fantastic job there" at DIRECTV, especially with the company's high-def programming push, Murdoch added.
"I thought it was going to be more affected by the triple play and everything than it has been," Murdoch said. "So I might have been wrong. I don't think I'm wrong in the long term."
Murdoch also said News Corp. plans to "do everything we do now better," including strengthening its programming efforts and newspapers, "making these franchises stronger." The company also is eying opportunities in emerging markets, including India.
Meanwhile, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, speaking at the same Goldman Sachs conference, suggested that DIRECTV may get by without a broadband component. "I think we've absorbed most of that triple-play threat," he said.
"The reality is over half of our customers at DIRECTV have high-speed access. They are able to find either best of breed or bundles or we help them find (something) to be competitive," he said. "I don't think there is an opportunity for us, realistically, to easily go out and create our own broadband solution."
That includes a wireless broadband solution. "We suggested that claiming you need one, which pushes you to do a WiMAX deal that you may not really want to do but makes a good press release, isn't necessarily the long term, correct strategy," he said.
The Liberty executive also said his company and DIRECTV are exploring potential growth areas overseas, including Latin American and elsewhere. And Maffei said the two sides continue to explore new content opportunities.
