Industry sources say Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is close to a deal to take control of the largest US satellite television provider DirecTV and create a US$70 billion global network.
News and General Motors have sketched out the main points of a deal that would see Murdoch's Sky Global satellite empire merge with Hughes Electronics, the GM subsidiary which houses DirecTV, the sources said.
Under the terms of the deal under discussion, Murdoch would land an initial stake of 35 percent in the combined company but the media mogul would take charge of running the company and eventually emerge as the largest single shareholder.
However, a deal may take some time to finalize and could still fall apart, industry sources said.
A spokesman for General Motors said no agreement had been reached and that the company remained in talks with a number of people.
