Steve Mehs
06-19-03, 02:42 AM
Opponents of News Corp.'s proposed takeover of DirecTV and Hughes echoed their same concerns with the pending transaction during a hearing before the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Wednesday, including how competitive pay-TV providers can access News Corp. programming at reasonable terms and prices.
Robert Miron, chairman and CEO of Advance/Newhouse Communications, told the panel that a combined News Corp./DirecTV platform would have "the unique and unprecedented incentive and power" to raise prices for News Corp.-controlled programming charged to competing cable and satellite providers. "Our negotiating position will be severely compromised," Miron said.
Consumers Union Director Gene Kimmelman took issue not only with News Corp.'s control of the satellite TV company but with the state of competition in the pay-TV marketplace. Kimmelman said since 1996, cable prices have risen despite competition from satellite. The News Corp./DirecTV deal "may make matters worse," he said, pointing out the program pricing concerns at the same time.
News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who was joined at the hearing by DirecTV Chairman and CEO Eddy Hartenstein, defended the transaction, in which his company would gain a 34-percent controlling stake in Hughes and DirecTV. He said News Corp. and its FOX unit would adhere to programming access rules if News Corp. gains control of the satellite TV company, something it has promised at the Federal Communications Commission.
As for opponents' claims, Murdoch said cable wants "simply to stop us from being competitors." On concerns about program pricing, Murdoch said News Corp. "will charge what the market will bear" for its content, but he stopped short of promising strict limits on program pricing.
Hartenstein said once DirecTV and Hughes gain independence from current parent General Motors, and with the anticipated investment from News Corp., the satellite company would be in a better position to get the financing it needs to grow its business. The DirecTV executive also said he believes the News Corp. transaction doesn't contain any of the anti-competitive concerns associated with last year's failed merger between DirecTV/Hughes and EchoStar.
EchoStar and Hughes abandoned their proposed merger after regulatory resistance surfaced in Washington, D.C.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com) (Used with Permission)
Robert Miron, chairman and CEO of Advance/Newhouse Communications, told the panel that a combined News Corp./DirecTV platform would have "the unique and unprecedented incentive and power" to raise prices for News Corp.-controlled programming charged to competing cable and satellite providers. "Our negotiating position will be severely compromised," Miron said.
Consumers Union Director Gene Kimmelman took issue not only with News Corp.'s control of the satellite TV company but with the state of competition in the pay-TV marketplace. Kimmelman said since 1996, cable prices have risen despite competition from satellite. The News Corp./DirecTV deal "may make matters worse," he said, pointing out the program pricing concerns at the same time.
News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who was joined at the hearing by DirecTV Chairman and CEO Eddy Hartenstein, defended the transaction, in which his company would gain a 34-percent controlling stake in Hughes and DirecTV. He said News Corp. and its FOX unit would adhere to programming access rules if News Corp. gains control of the satellite TV company, something it has promised at the Federal Communications Commission.
As for opponents' claims, Murdoch said cable wants "simply to stop us from being competitors." On concerns about program pricing, Murdoch said News Corp. "will charge what the market will bear" for its content, but he stopped short of promising strict limits on program pricing.
Hartenstein said once DirecTV and Hughes gain independence from current parent General Motors, and with the anticipated investment from News Corp., the satellite company would be in a better position to get the financing it needs to grow its business. The DirecTV executive also said he believes the News Corp. transaction doesn't contain any of the anti-competitive concerns associated with last year's failed merger between DirecTV/Hughes and EchoStar.
EchoStar and Hughes abandoned their proposed merger after regulatory resistance surfaced in Washington, D.C.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com) (Used with Permission)