On a different note, the shares have seen 0.37% price change during the week.In a block trade which occurred during the day, the stock had an inflow of $0 million in upticks and an outflow of $7.45 million in downticks.
Advertisement
It’s not uncommon for media companies to use the merger review process as an opportunity to air out their carriage grievances with pay-TV providers. Their merger does not considerably affect choice for the customers and as a result, the FCC has looked at this merger more favorably. The deal also benefited from the fact that Comcast’s deal got the lion’s share of media attention.
The Street is mainly bullish on AT&T stock.
The DirecTV-AT&T merger has taken so long to be approved as it has had to face many speed bumps along the way. An Appeals Court subsequently decided on the matter, freeing the FCC to restart its review.
FCC approval is reportedly on schedule to arrive as soon as next week. The telecom regulator could still put conditions on the deal, including demanding that AT&T comply with the rules included in the agency’s net neutrality order.
David Heger, an analyst who follows AT&T and DirecTV for Edward Jones in St. Louis, said with this deal DirecTV is primed to better retain customers switching from traditional TV boxes to watch programming on online video services like Netflix and Hulu. Of course, the DoJ isn’t the only regulatory agency that the companies must assuage. As of December 31, 2011, DIRECTV US had approximately 19.9 million subscribers. However, the growing availability of online content as an alternative video platform, along with an expanding market for connected devices, has negatively impacted the entire pay-TV industry.
Advertisement
Regulators are likely to impose conditions on the deal to alleviate the possible negative impacts of combining the No. 2 wireless carrier with the largest satellite-TV provider, says John Bergmayer, a senior staff attorney at consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge. The company started its satellite TV service in 1994 and has been competing with cable networks and rivals ever since. The company already owns a strong fiber based video network.
