According to a report in the Wall Street Journal this morning, EchoStar chairman Charles Ergen has been talking with Murdoch's News Corporation and Liberty Media, but so far there have been no formal negotiations.
The merger between EchoStar and DirecTV was called off in December after a year of talks. It was thought that the failure of the merger would clear the way for a fresh Murdoch bid for the Hughes-owned DirecTV. Ultimately, the deal was killed by the anti-competition case being brought by the US Department of Justice and 23 states, supported by the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The deal was doomed after Hughes refused to extend the deadline for EchoStar, whose bid became mired in regulatory problems.
According to the paper, Ergen has so far not commented on his motives for the moves but, with his hopes of creating the US's largest satellite TV company dashed, Murdoch is likely to be open to offers.
Murdoch and News Corp might be more receptive to taking over EchoStar, having once almost made it to the altar with DirecTV only to have Hughes, a subsidiary of General Motors, spurn it for EchoStar.
The paper said that EchoStar has not denied that it has held discussions with the two US media giants.
In a statement to the Journal, EchoStar said it "continues to focus its efforts on maintaining its leadership position in the cable and satellite industry. Obviously, our board of directors would be required to consider any firm proposal that would benefit our shareholders."
Murdoch revealed towards the end of last year month that he was possibly preparing a new bid for DirecTV, almost a year after he lost out at the 11th hour to a $18bn (£11.4bn) bid from EchoStar. The News Corp chairman said that, should General Motors sell its shares in Hughes, he would be interested in buying them.
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