--- description: AT&T officially announced Sunday its intent to acquire satellite broadcast provider DirecTV in a deal worth about $48.5 billion title: AT&T to Buy DirecTV in $48.5 Billion Deal image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1582748e0acdbdaf/69869007361760182890c13c/rtr3pq3x.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # AT&T is Buying DirecTV in $48.5 Billion Deal  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2014 10:16 PM CUT  DirecTV satellite dishes are seen on an apartment roof in Los Angeles, May 18, 2014. DirecTV satellite dishes are seen on an apartment roof in Los Angeles, May 18, 2014.Jonathan Alcorn—Reuters  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2014 10:16 PM CUT AT&T officially will acquire satellite broadcast provider DirecTV in a deal worth approximately $48.5 billion, the company confirmed Sunday, after weeks of rumors about an impending purchase. AT&T will pay roughly $95-per-share in a stock-and-cash transaction based on AT&T’s Friday closing price, the company [said](http://about.att.com/story/att%5Fto%5Facquire%5Fdirectv.html?sf26321921=1 "undefined") in a release. The deal will add DirecTV’s 20 million subscribers to the 5 million already signed up to AT&T’s U-verse television service, setting the buyer up to compete with television giants like Comcast. AT&T could also move its existing U-verse subscribers to DirecTV’s satellite network, freeing up precious spectrum for broadband Internet service. The AT&T-DirecTV deal is sure to get a close look from regulators at the Federal Communications Commission, which would be concerned by media consolidation issues, and the Department of Justice, for antitrust matters. This announcement comes as AT&T rival Comcast is [trying to convince](http://time.com/79053/comcast-time-warner-cable-charter/ "undefined") the very same regulators to allow it to buy Time Warner Cable in a $45 billion deal that critics call a blow to competition and consumer choice. AT&T, however, [reportedly](http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/18/news/companies/att-directv/ "undefined") plans to cozy up to regulators by framing its DirecTV buy as a move to expand Internet access in underserved areas, a longtime technology policy goal of the Obama administration. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/104174/att-directv/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/104174/att-directv/"},"headline":"AT&T is Buying DirecTV in $48.5 Billion Deal","datePublished":"2014-05-18T22:16:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:02:17.356Z","description":"The company confirmed that it will pay roughly $95-per-share in a stock-and-cash transaction based on AT&T's Friday closing price and officially acquire DirecTV in a deal worth approximately $48.5 billion","url":"https://time.com/104174/att-directv/","keywords":["Companies","Tech","AT&T","directv"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1582748e0acdbdaf/69869007361760182890c13c/rtr3pq3x.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Fitzpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1582748e0acdbdaf/69869007361760182890c13c/rtr3pq3x.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"DirecTV satellite dishes are seen on an apartment roof in Los Angeles","caption":"DirecTV satellite dishes are seen on an apartment roof in Los Angeles","creditText":"Jonathan Alcorn—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/companies/","name":"Companies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/104174/att-directv/","name":"AT&T is Buying DirecTV in $48.5 Billion Deal"}}]}] ```