It’s official: AT&T just went big. Detailed in a report yesterday afternoon by USA Today, terms between the telecommunications juggernaut and the nation’s largest satellite provider, DirecTV, were agreed upon for a merger that would see AT&T purchase DirecTV for a reported $48.5 billion. The deal trumps the other gargantuan media merger currently on the table, between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, by over $3 billion.
AT&T agreed Sunday to buy DirecTV for about $48.5 billion in yet another mammoth deal in the pay-TV space this year that would immediately boost the telecom giant’s customer base at a time of confounding industry challenges. The merger, which both boards approved Sunday, is the latest evidence of TV-industry consolidation, one born of telecommunications companies’ desire to amass customers and control content and delivery. With streaming and wireless technology upending the industry, cable and satellite service providers are rushing to add product options while boosting revenue per customer to please shareholders.