Satellite : Eye on DIRECTV/Liberty

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Keeping an Eye on DIRECTV/Liberty Entertainment Moves
At that same Merrill Lynch conference, Liberty Media's Greg Maffei outlined the company's plan to take Liberty Entertainment, which holds a controlling stake in DIRECTV, and turn the tracking stock into an asset-based stock.

Last week, Liberty Media unveiled a plan to distribute to holders of Liberty Entertainment shares of a subsidiary that will hold the businesses and assets that are part of that same group. Once the transaction is completed, Liberty Entertainment will consist of the 50 percent controlling stake in DIRECTV, all of Starz Entertainment, FUN Technologies, Liberty Sports Holdings, GSN, and 37 percent of WildBlue Communications.

DIRECTV could become a key part of that asset, said Maffei.

"We would ultimately like to have one company, a DIRECTV merged with Liberty Entertainment," Maffei, as reported by wire services and Reuters, told the investor conference. "But I don't think that it's a requirement if we can't get it on terms that are attractive to Liberty Entertainment shareholders."

Options surround such a move, and Maffei said "you could also imagine selling LMDIA and/or DIRECTV to a third party. All possibilities are out there."