NEWS Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974). News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: February 25, 2008 Mary Diamond (202) 418-2388 Mary.Diamond@fcc.gov FCC Approves Transfer of Control of Direct TV to Liberty Media Subject to Conditions Washington, DC –The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today approved the transfer of control of DIRECTV to Liberty Media subject to conditions. The Commission concluded that, as conditioned, the public interest benefits of the transfer outweighed the potential harms and would be consistent with applicable Commission rules and policies. As a benefit of the transaction, Liberty Media and News Corp., which is the majority stakeholder of DIRECTV, would sever their ownership interests with each other which will decrease media consolidation and reduce vertical integration therefore benefiting the public. The Order also imposes certain conditions to ensure that the transaction will serve Commission’s competition and diversity goals. The Order requires that Liberty and DIRECTV abide by program access, program carriage, Regional Sports Network ("RSN") arbitration, retransmission consent arbitration conditions, modeled on similar conditions imposed in 2003, when the Commission approved the transfer of DIRECTV from Hughes to News Corp. In addition, the Order requires that all of the attributable ownership interests connecting DIRECTV-Puerto Rico and Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico, Ltd., which will be under common control as a result of the transaction, be severed within one year, at which point the companies must certify either that they have reduced the relevant interests to a non-attributable level or that they have filed any applications necessary to divest assets. On balance, the Commission found that the transaction, as conditioned, would serve the public interest. Action by the Commission February 25, 2008, by Memorandum Opinion and Order (FCC 08- 66). Chairman Martin, Commissioners Tate and McDowell with Commissioner Copps concurring and Commissioner Adelstein approving and dissenting in part. Separate statements issued by Commissioners Copps and Adelstein. MB Docket No. 07-18 -FCC- News about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found on the Commission’s web site www.fcc.gov.