The bids submitted thus far, which are nonbinding, will be whittled down in coming weeks and the parties will negotiate over content licensing, the person familiar with the matter said.

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If Dish with its 14m subscribers were to merge with DirecTV, Paterson explained the result would be a subscriber base of an estimated 34m, which would give the company a stronger position by which to negotiate lower content acquisition prices and leverage operating fees.

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Losing customers hurts not only revenue but also Netflix's ability to negotiate streaming contracts with content providers.

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It is a trend TomTom will need to negotiate carefully as it expands its content and services business.

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MediaFLO will negotiate deals with media companies to deliver their content, and will sell the service directly to cellular operators, who will share the network and resell TV service to their mobile customers.

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But Murdock, along with his wife Wendi Deng and their partners have significant hurdles ahead, as they negotiate with Beijing to secure an internet license and modify website content to conform to China's strict internet regulations.

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Netflix has already lost content from cable network Starz and it will have to negotiate to keep EPIX.

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This behavior has allowed publishers to understand the types of content their readers appreciate most and is poised to help those publishers negotiate more meaningful relationships with relevant advertisers.

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