The Faber Report

FABER REPORT VIDEO

» More

- Faber Report: Media Spending Bucks on Buybacks 09 Feb 2012
  CNBC's David Faber takes a look at how media companies are spending their cash.
- Faber Report: Diamond Foods Accounting 09 Feb 2012
  CNBC's David Faber and Herb Greenberg have the details on the ongoing investigation on Diamond Foods accounting practices.
- Faber Report: HCA Holdings' Special Dividends 06 Feb 2012
  CNBC's David Faber has a look at HCA Holdings a year after its sponsor-led IPO and its announcement to pay special dividends.
- Faber Report: Little Caesars IPO Details 03 Feb 2012
  CNBC's David Faber has the story on Little Caesars IPO, expected to price between $8-$10 per share.
- Faber Report: Viacom Earnings 02 Feb 2012
  CNBC's David Faber takes a look at Viacom's Q1 revenue, up in networks and film segments compared to last year.
- Faber Report: Deals Falling Through Cracks 01 Feb 2012
  CNBC's David Faber looks at the M&A deals that have fallen through and the impact on those stocks.

RSS FEED

» Help

Subscribe to this RSS feed
Stay up to date with The Faber Report.

COMMUNITY

Twitter
Follow The Strategy Session and The Faber Report on Twitter.

Getting "Direct" With Greg Maffei

Published: Friday, 26 Jun 2009 | 1:45 PM ET

Text Size

By: David Faber
CNBC Anchor and Reporter

Greg Maffei
Greg Maffei
An interview with Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei on Squawk Box had some interesting moments this morning. I asked Maffei whether he would be interested in taking the top job at Direct TV, which long time CEO Chase Carey recently departed to take the number two job at Newscorp [NWS Loading... () ].

I’ve been hearing from my sources that Maffei has interest in the Direct TV job and he certainly didn’t deny that this morning, declining to take the opportunity to say he was happy staying in his current job (see clip).

I also asked Maffei about Liberty’s possible interest in AOL, the unit that is in the process of being spun off from Time Warner [TWX Loading... () ]. Liberty controlled Time Warner shares worth roughly $660 million as of the end of March and has always favored tax free transactions in which it can swap ownership stakes like that one for operating businesses.

It seems unlikely Liberty would try and make a move now, though after AOL is spun it becomes a great deal more unlikely. When I asked Maffei about AOL he acknowledged Liberty has had “positive” discussions with Time Warner regarding AOL (see clip).

As for the main event: the merging of Liberty Entertainment into Direct TV [DTV Loading... () ] ( a company for which John Malone will no longer control the right to block a deal) , Maffei had little to offer about what is constant speculation that the company will eventually be sold to either AT&T [T Loading... () ] or Verizon [VZ Loading... () ].

Stay tuned.

As part of that complex transaction, Liberty will create a new stock that will largely track the performance of its Starz network. The market is currently attributing little value to Starz, which like many of the other “movie channels” may need to alter its business model in years ahead given the expiration of programming deals with the movie studios and the cost of those deals.

Liberty Media Securities