Valley Voices

Even though Time Warner chmn/CEO Richard Parsons downplayed the goings on among the media heavyweights gathered this week in Sun Valley, ID, we’d still like full access to the meeting venues and golf courses. Sure, Parsons told reporters the execs "are dealing in a lot bigger issues than we used to—flat earth, terrorism, war—than just deals," but how many other soirees find Google boss Eric Schmidt holding court with reporters at a hotel bar, railing against Viacom (the media concern has sued Google’s YouTube for copyright infringement). Also at the summit, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei apprised Reuters of the benefits he sees in acquiring all if DirecTV. The DBS op offers "a good business and having access to those cashflows, being able to have it operate synergistically with our content businesses can be attractive under the right conditions," said Maffei. Meanwhile Charter chmn Paul Allen apparently expects more M&A among US cable ops, who are experiencing intense acquisition pressure due to widespread expansion into broadband and phone services. "There are undeniable economies of scale that you get with programming and other parts of your business," Allen told repoorters.