By Erin McCarthy
DirecTV (DTV) Chief Executive Mike White on Tuesday reiterated
his concerns about Comcast Corp.'s proposed takeover of Time Warner
Cable Inc., though he said the cable deal wouldn't change DirecTV's
strategies if completed.
"Clearly there are concerns when the top two cable companies
merge," he said Tuesday.
DirecTV has had to adjust its U.S. strategy as its cable rivals
have been able to make up for softness in the mature video business
with growth in broadband and other services that satellite
operators can't provide as well. Instead, DirecTV increasingly has
looked to Latin America as a source of growth.
In February, Comcast unveiled its proposed $45 billion deal to
buy Time Warner Cable. Regulators are expected to zero in on the
deal's impact on the market for broadband, which can carry voice,
data and video all on the same pipe.
On Tuesday, Mr. White speculated the government would likely
focus on the Internet and "how broadband gets played out with two
players that large."
He has previously singled out broadband as one service the
combined cable giant would dominate, saying it could have an
"effective" monopoly in as much as two-thirds of the U.S.
Another area government regulators should consider is whether to
classify the combined company still as a local business or whether
it's becoming, as he believes, a national business. Determining the
company as a national business "would have implications for
everybody in the industry," he said.
"In my mind with the power of programming costs and the impact
that's having on the industry, that tends to be a national
negotiation," he said, adding the consumers' bills are increasingly
driven by content providers and programming costs.
"That's a question for the government to try to wrestle with,"
he added.
Write to Erin McCarthy at erin.mccarthy@wsj.com
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