[bogi]

Unfortunately money wins in our government and with the merger approval of ATT and Comcast, Echostar-DirectTv is a sure thing.

http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2002/09/16/daily11.html

Comcast-AT&T Broadband deal OK'd by FTC

Comcast Corp. announced Tuesday the Federal Trade Commission has granted antitrust approval to its proposed deal to buy AT&T Corp.'s cable unit, clearing another hurdle in creating the country's largest cable company

George Orwell was right but the year should of been 2084.

 

[Geronimo]

Sure thing? It helps but......

 

[Rusty]

Echostar-DirecTV is absolutely not a sure thing.

 

[scooper]

It's not a sure thing until the announcements from both DOJ and the FCC.

 

[invaliduser88]

When will the decision finally be made? This thing seems to be dragging on forever!

 

[TNGTony]

A decision is expected by the end of this month to the middle of October. Should be real soon.

See ya
Tony

 

[bogi]

Originally posted by scooper
It's not a sure thing until the announcements from both DOJ and the FCC.

The FTC is the DOJ. And everyone here knows the Chairman of the FCC is a corprate lap dog. So ATT COMAST is as good as gold.

This makes way for sattellite to be approved because the merger with dish and dtv will equal the merger with att comcast.

 

[Curtis0620]

Originally posted by bogi


The FTC is the DOJ. And everyone here knows the Chairman of the FCC is a corprate lap dog. So ATT COMAST is as good as gold.

This makes way for sattellite to be approved because the merger with dish and dtv will equal the merger with att comcast.

ATT and Comcast do not compete for customers. E* and D* do.
That is the big difference here.

Kill the merger.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The AT&T deal was NOT approved by the DOJ, they used a loophole which approved the deal because the DOJ took too long.

I am suprised that Dish Network has not used this loophole to get their merger approved.

With the AT&T deal going past the DOJ, it does appear more likely that the Dish / DirecTV deal will get approved just to compete with the new giant made with AT&T and Comcast.

 

[Curtis0620]

If the Dish/Directv merger goes through here is my prediction of what to expect:

PVR fees for all of $10 per month for each PVR
Downgrade fees of $5
Mirroring fees of at least $5.99
Locals $10

All to pay for the merger, and because cable is the only competition (at least in most parts of the country).


If cable gets NFLST, DBS will die a slow death.

 

[David_Levin]

Originally posted by Scott Greczkowski
The AT&T deal was NOT approved by the DOJ, they used a loophole which approved the deal because the DOJ took too long.

I am suprised that Dish Network has not used this loophole to get their merger approved.

With the AT&T deal going past the DOJ, it does appear more likely that the Dish / DirecTV deal will get approved just to compete with the new giant made with AT&T and Comcast.

But the DOJ must have known this would happen. They did essentially approve it.

 

[Win Joy Jr]

Originally posted by David_Levin


But the DOJ must have known this would happen. They did essentially approve it.

I look at this as more of as the DOJ did not WANT to rule, so they punted.

Now, will they do the same for the DirecTV / E* deal, who knows.

 

[Nick]

As is the case now, a merged E*/D* will still have to compete with cable in most areas of the country. National DBS pricing will protect the rural subs and put them on equal footing with urban/suburban subs.

I welcome the merger and, with certain economies of scale, I look forward to new and exciting things happening with DBS in the future.

 

[Guest]

Does AT&T and Comcast compete in any relevant geographic market against each other?

The procedures of the Hart Scott Rodino Act govern the timing of any action to be taken by DOJ or themerging parties. There is no loophole.

 

[bogi]

Originally posted by Clayton7
Does AT&T and Comcast compete in any relevant geographic market against each other?.

Nope, They are Monopolies.

 

[BrettR]

Originally posted by Curtis0620
If the Dish/Directv merger goes through here is my prediction of what to expect:

PVR fees for all of $10 per month for each PVR
Downgrade fees of $5
Mirroring fees of at least $5.99
Locals $10

The New DirecTV would have to replace our equipment with equivalent at no charge to us. A dual tuner PVR with lifetime service would have to replaced with equivalent. If not, I'd be calling my lawyer.

 

[bogi]

Maybe I spoke to soon..

 

[Tim]

The New DirecTV would have to replace our equipment with equivalent at no charge to us. A dual tuner PVR with lifetime service would have to replaced with equivalent. If not, I'd be calling my lawyer.

And your lawyer would gladly take your money while saying there's nothing in your customer agreement that guarantees anything close to what you are looking for

 

[BrettR]

Originally posted by Tim


there's nothing in your customer agreement that guarantees anything close to what you are looking for

Thats incorrect. Echostar DirecTV would be acquiring all contracts they have made with each subscriber. When the successor corporation [from a merger] is sued on an inherited liability, it cannot raise the defense that the plaintiff did not have a contract with it. From Anderson's Business Law and the Legal Environment.

DirecTV, Hughes the obligor is the party who makes a promise. And the promise given to the customer is lifetime service for PVR functions for a unit that receives DirecTV programming. Echostar would have to honor this contract. A breach of contract is the failure to act or perform in the manner called by the contract. Echostar and DirecTV do say programming and pricing subject to change without notice (even though they usually give advance notice if channel is being dropped, like PAX on DirecTV). However PVR functions are not programming. A PVR without fees (either lifetime service or no fee to begin as cost was included with purchase of box) would have to be replaced with a PVR without PVR fees. I dont see how this is so hard to see. If Charlie pulls a stunt like charging former lifetime users, I be frustrated. And the chances of merger dont seem so bright anyways as there are serious antitrust implications.

However antitrust laws are being disregarded in some cases already. Some of those laws were obsolete. The networks who are making profits on advertising and want to protect commercial advertising might pay off the right parties in Congress which might lead to eventual killing of the PVR anyways. NBC though has a stake in TiVo IIRC though. Cant imagine NBC though who is paying lots of money to Warner B for Friends West Wing ER isnt at all concerned if large numbers of viewers ignore the advertising NBC is making money off of. A loss of PVR would not be good for the satellite provider as the integrated PVR was a huge advantage over parochial outdated cable systems.

 

[Tim]

What does the phrase Pricing, terms and conditions subject to change at the bottom of the DirecTivo pricing page do to your contract?

I'm not sure how you can differentiate the PVR service from any other service provided that is governed by the T&C.

Brett I'm not disagreeing with your general point here, but this does seem like a "contract" that's made to be broken- in the favor of the Big Boys.