63: Is Verizon Planning a Megadeal?

Here's what we know: Verizon Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam asked Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei to discuss acquiring Charter Communications, the $100 billion U.S. cable provider that bought Time Warner Cable last year. Liberty is Charter's largest shareholder. The government's ongoing wireless spectrum auction forbids Verizon from speaking directly to Charter until March, according to people familiar with the matter. We also know Verizon is contemplating more than a dozen purchases -- both large and small -- now that Donald Trump has become U.S. president. Trump-appointed regulators may be more likely to allow telecommunications megadeals than Obama's administrators. Still, Charter may not be Verizon's top takeover choice. Bloomberg wireless reporter Scott Moritz and media reporter Gerry Smith discuss the art of the deal and the art of the possible with host Alex Sherman.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.