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AT&T to Buy DirecTV for $48.5 Billion

dealbook.nytimes.com

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Re: AT&T to Buy DirecTV for $48.5 Billion

#51

Post by logicallee »

wow, I thought you meant "million"? You don't just buy a company for $48.5 billion, and have a tiny matter-of-fact headline like this.

What's the last company that got bought for even $30 billion!

This is a mind-boggling sum of money.

Check out the largest mergers and acquisitions of all time:

http://www.bloomberg.com/visual-data/best-and-worst/largest-...

(Do bear in mind inflation - add 45% since 1998 according to http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/)

This deal must still be way up there. I wonder if someone can find the largest acquisitions of the past 2-3 years.

Re: AT&T to Buy DirecTV for $48.5 Billion

#52

Post by skizm »

brewdad wrote: post #45
dublinben wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you get ESPN3 through your ISP? It covers most sports both live and recorded, and doesn't require a cable subscription.

Most sports? Hardly. Sure you can, in theory, watch American Football, Rest of the World Football, basketball, and baseball on ESPN3, but if you want to see these sports played by teams that matter then you need regular ESPN or a cable subscription to view them. All the games that matter were removed from the ESPN3 lineup at least a couple of years ago.

ESPN3 access gives you access to all espn channels including regular espn. I use it every day for sports center and baseball.

Re: AT&T to Buy DirecTV for $48.5 Billion

#53

Post by sb057 »

nickpresta wrote: post #24
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #9

Do many young people watch TV anymore? It seems like netflix + youtube scratches that itch.

Between YouTube, Twitch.TV (and related, like Azubu, Speedruns, etc), Crunchyroll, and occasional piracy (GoT), I never turn on my TV unless it's the Chromecast the aforementioned content.

Well, your comment quickly became outdated.

Re: AT&T to Buy DirecTV for $48.5 Billion

#54

Post by sb057 »

sukuriant wrote: post #43
jkelsey wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When people say "free and open", that's context enough to know that they mean free as in freedom, not as in beer. Please stop using this silly red herring.

I honestly didn't perceive it as "free as in freedom" in the above context. That said, roads aren't that, either. Try driving on one without a license, insurance, using them in ways that are disapproved of / disallowed (speeding heavily, drinking and driving, etc) to see. Alternatively, use the road to play a game of football. I don't really think they're "free as in freedom", either.

>just as our roads are free and open to everyone, so should the digital roads be.

Nobody is arguing that internet access should be gratis. How could you possibly perceive it as not meaning "free as in freedom?"

Re: AT&T to Buy DirecTV for $48.5 Billion

#56

Post by canvia »

krschultz wrote: post #28
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #9

Do many young people watch TV anymore? It seems like netflix + youtube scratches that itch.

Sports. ESPN + NFL Redzone + TNT + Local channels in HD have no good alternative on the internet. If they did I wouldn't pay for TV.

Young people don't care about sports either. eSports like they have on Twitch.tv are more and more popular.

A $35 leaf antenna from amazon gets you all the local HD channels for free.

Re: AT&T to Buy DirecTV for $48.5 Billion

#57

Post by NoPiece »

dkulchenko wrote: post #23
ams6110 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't most ISPs make it economically infeasible to get internet services without also getting cable TV? Comcast here bundles servies such that internet only is more expensive than internet + cable.

Yep, this is the case here as well. Paying Comcast for TV + internet because it's $15/month cheaper than internet alone. The cable box they sent me is sitting unpacked in the closet.

Can I ask where you live, and how much you pay? In the bay area internet only is marginally cheaper than any bundle. $99 for TV + 25mbps and between $66 for just the 25mbps. Teaser rates are $59 for the bundle, $29 for internet.

Re: AT&T to Buy DirecTV for $48.5 Billion

#58

Post by ILIKEPONIES »

quotient wrote: post #38
ILIKEPONIES wrote: post #13

Is it bad that I read this as 'AT&T to Buy DirecTV for 2.7 WhatsApps?'

Yes. This is not only a trivial, inconsequential point to raise, but your arithmetic is also off ($48.5/19 \approx 2.55$).

You sound like a fun person to hang out with.

My arithmetic wasn't off. I misremembered the price by $1b.

Re: AT&T to Buy DirecTV for $48.5 Billion

#59

Post by bdcravens »

edoceo wrote: post #7

According to them lack of competition is good for the market. Maybe Zuckerburg can start a bandwidth company and bring another (desperately needed) player to the game.

How? Wireless?

That'd be at least 3 years away, if he could piggy-back on another network.

According to their Q4 report, AT&T spent about $50B EACH in expenses in 2013 on their wireless and wired operations. Zuck only has $25B (personally). How much of a network could he (or Facebook, after he gets shareholder approval) build? This isn't an app built in PHP or Objective C.

Re: AT&T to Buy DirecTV for $48.5 Billion

#60

Post by mrjatx »

canvia wrote: post #56
krschultz wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sports. ESPN + NFL Redzone + TNT + Local channels in HD have no good alternative on the internet. If they did I wouldn't pay for TV.

Young people don't care about sports either. eSports like they have on Twitch.tv are more and more popular. A $35 leaf antenna from amazon gets you all the local HD channels for free.

Your first statement is absolutely ridiculous. Do you have data to back this up? I'm not in some "~esportz~" community - but I'm not in a sports community either, and you know what happens to my facebook when an athletic game is on? 20-30yo people talking about it in a massive flood. I have, as far as I know, never seen any of my friends (general Austinites of various walks of life) mention esports.

If you're referring to the 12-15yo crew; they don't pay cable bills anyway.

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