It had been reported at the end of last year that Murdoch was back in talks to buy DirecTV, the US's largest satellite TV broadcaster, after a rival bid from EchoStar was knocked into touch by US regulators.
According to the New York Times, it was General Motors, which owns DirecTV, that approached SBC in an effort to bring in another bidder to compete against Murdoch's News Corporation.
SBC, formerly Baby Bell Southwestern Bell, is according to reports tabling a $10bn (£6.2bn) bid for the company. This is considerably less than the $18bn bid from EchoStar.
Murdoch, the News Corp chairman, said recently that should General Motors sell its shares in Hughes Electronics, which owns DirecTV, he would be interested in buying them.
"When the time comes around, and if General Motors decides to sell its shares then I have an interest. But my interest would be at the right price. We're not holding our breath," he said.
EchoStar trumped Murdoch at the last moment last year after he had spent 18 months stalking DirecTV. EchoStar's bid then ran into competition problems and was blocked by US regulators after the US Department of Justice and 23 states vowed to block the deal.
However, Murdoch, who has said nothing this year about DirecTV, was two weeks ago linked to EchoStar and was reported to have held talks with EchoStar chairman Charles Ergen.
For Murdoch, either DirecTV or EchoStar would complete his satellite ambitions, bringing together operations in the UK, Europe Latin America and Asia with the US.
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