Murdoch Has Regrets On DIRECTV Sale
The News Corp executive says he feared cable's 'triple play.'
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (September 18, 2008) -- News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said yesterday that he has regrets about swapping his stake in DIRECTV with John Malone's Liberty Media.

That's according to various news reports, including Multichannel News and Reuters.

News Corp. agreed in 2006 to trade its controlling interest in DIRECTV to Liberty, an agreement that finally was approved this year by federal officials. At the time of the agreement, Murdoch was quoted by industry sources as saying that he feared that cable TV's 'Triple Play' offering of Internet, voice and video would be too much for the satcaster which only offers video service.

Murdoch yesterday acknowledged that he was afraid of cable, but now says DIRECTV's High-Definition lineup has allowed it to expand its subscriber and revenue base.

"I was frightened of the Triple Play in cable and then a superior service coming from the telephone companies,” Murdoch told the Goldman Sachs conference yesterday.

Thanks largely to DIRECTV's expanded high-def lineup, the satcaster has increased its new subscribers, recently reporting a 129,000 increase for the second quarter.

Although Murdoch says he may have been wrong about the deal, he added: “I don’t think I’m wrong in the long term.”

As owner of DIRECTV, Murdoch's News Corp. also had a platform for its cable networks, such as FX, Fox News and National Geographic. DIRECTV has not added Fox News HD since its launch in May 2008, but has added HD networks owned by Liberty Media since that time, including Planet Green HD.

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