Still, no one doubts that DirecTV, which is a unit of Hughes Electronics (nyse: GMH - news - people ), has a major piracy problem.

FORBES: DirecTV Declares War On TV Pirates

The recent loss reflected a charge to cover the breakup fee for EchoStar's failed merger with rival Hughes Electronics (nyse: GMH - news - people ).

FORBES: Magazine Article

UltimateTV combined programming from Hughes Electronics ' (nyse: GMH - news - people ) DirecTV unit, digital video recording, live TV controls, interactive television and Internet access.

FORBES: The Fight For Interactive Television

DirecTV , owned by General Motors' Hughes Electronics (nyse: GMH - news - people ) unit, added 980, 000 subscribers last year to hit the 11 million mark, making it second only to Comcast (nasdaq: CMCSA - news - people ).

FORBES: Eye of the Storm

The stock hardly budged this morning after Hughes (nyse: GMH - news - people ) and EchoStar (nasdaq: DISH - news - people ) formally abandoned their merger, so clearly no one expects Murdoch to splash out generously for Hughes.

FORBES: Hughes Left To Tender Mercies Of Murdoch

This deal has a long history as News Corp. (nyse: NWS - news - people ) had been negotiating with Hughes (nyse: GMH - news - people ), owner of DirectTV , the top satellite TV provider, for a year before EchoStar came in to grab the prize--if it is a prize.

FORBES: Magazine Article

For the rest of us, it amounts to another murky subplot in the ongoing story of EchoStar's quest to merge with its main satellite competitor, the DirecTV unit of Hughes Electronics (nyse: GMH - news - people ), which is in turn majority-owned by General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ).

FORBES: Magazine Article