DirecTV Giving Liberty a Focal Point

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When News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch reportedly called satellite television provider DirecTV a “turd bird” in September, the folks at Liberty Media took advantage of it, the Denver Post reports.


“We made up shirts that said ‘Turd-bird TV’ and ‘Will trade satellite for stock’ on the back,” said Greg Maffei, president and chief executive of Liberty Media. “We even gave one to (DirecTV CEO) Chase (Carey). He thought it was funny.”


Jokes aside, Liberty’s stock-for-asset swap with News Corp. in December was a serious, strategic deal for the Douglas County company. In the deal, Liberty traded its 19 percent stake in News Corp. for a 38 percent controlling stake in DirecTV, three regional sports networks and $550 million in cash.


It’s part of an overall strategy to make DirecTV the focal point of Liberty Capital, one of two divisions that make up Liberty Media. The other is Liberty Interactive.


The companies that make up Liberty Capital cover a wide range of media sectors. They include a 100 percent investment in Starz LLC, a premium pay-TV movie network; a 25 percent investment in GoPets Ltd., a virtual community of pet owners who create pets online that interact with one another; and a 3 percent stake in Sprint Nextel.


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