FCC head recommends AT&T-DirecTV deal creating biggest cable or satellite TV provider in US

The head of the Federal Communications Commission has recommended approving AT&T's $48.5 billion purchase of DirecTV. The deal would create the country's largest provider of cable or satellite TV.

The other four commissioners still have to vote on the proposal.

The company would have 26.4 million TV subscribers in the U.S., topping Comcast as well as a possible new giant, Charter, which wants to buy Time Warner Cable. It would also include AT&T's nationwide network of tens of millions of wireless customers, its Internet and landline phone services and DirecTV's millions of customers in Latin America, where AT&T wants to grow.

Consolidation has swept the industry as people increasingly turn to the Internet for video and content costs rise for cable and satellite TV companies.