• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 9, 2008

Liberty Media, the John Malone-controlled conglomerate, is looking to make deeper forays in the content arena--either through acquisitions or organic growth--according to a top company executive.

"We'll continue to look at other ways to add content," said CEO Greg Maffei. He said it is likely that acquisitions or development would be spun out of the company's nearly 50% stake in DirecTV.

The 16 million homes that DTV reaches give Liberty a head start in distribution for any content it buys, creates or strikes deals to offer.

With a 48% stake in DTV, Liberty would then essentially get half the value of that content. DTV often takes stakes in networks it agrees to carry, but those minority positions do not appear to be what Maffei was referencing.

Instead, it appears he was referring to Liberty's traditional content businesses, which include a half stake in the former Game Show Network, now GSN, three regional sports networks and the Starz/Encore operations.

Speaking at the annual shareholders' meeting, Maffei said the company is increasingly interested in unloading its minority stakes in a range of communications companies--from 1% of Viacom to 3% of Time Warner to 3% of Sprint. It may turn the cash into greater ownership positions, perhaps in the content realm. A template would be the deal that brought a large stake in DirecTV in a swap for Liberty's stake in News Corp.

As for DirecTV's future, Maffei said Liberty is considering its options, which could include upping its stake. He said the company is "quite bullish" on its prospects--even as competing cable companies sell triple-play bundles--partly because of the array of HD channels it carries.