AT&T exploring sale of DirecTV

NBC News is reporting that AT&T is exploring selling its DirecTV satellite television service.

• The company, which acquired DirecTV in 2015 for $67 billion, is under pressure for an “activist investor” to sell off the division.
• DirecTV has seen a dip in subscriber counts as customers switch to no contract streaming options.
• AT&T battled the U.S. government over DirecTV when it tried to acquire Time Warner.
• The Justice Department originally wanted AT&T to sell off DirecTV in order to purchase Time Warner.
• AT&T sued and won — eventually renaming Time Warner as WarnerMedia.
• Dish, the only other major national satellite TV provider in the U.S., has reportedly expressed interest in buying DirecTV.
• Although Wall Street responded positively to news of a possible merger, it remains to be seen what regulatory hurdles such a combination would face.
• Previously, however, the Justice Department did approve the merger of the Sirius and XM satellite radio services.