Mega merger: Why did AT&T buy DirecTV?

With news of AT&T buying DirecTV for $48.5 billion, there was little question about the motive behind AT&T's newest acquisition.

"They want [DirecTV's] customers, plain and simple. It's 21 million people that they want, and they want to be able to provide them with whatever they want - wireless, satellite, broadband on whatever device they're using," CBS News contributor and analyst Mellody Hobson said.

This transaction would create the second largest paid television provider in the country with 26 million subscribers, the largest being Comcast-Time Warner with combined 30 million TV subscribers.

As for whether customers will have to pay more, Hobson said it's a hard question to answer because there aren't a lot of overlaps between AT&T and DirecTV.

"The cable industry in general, there isn't a lot of competition because you get that geographic monopoly. But over the long term these companies of course want to be able to bundle these services and charge a premium price. So at the end of the day, you're going to get one bill, they're going to provide you with a lot of services and it will probably be for more."

Hobson said the conversation about this acquisition has focused on how it "provides the perfect counterweight to the Comcast-Time Warner deal," especially with recent antitrust law debates over the Comcast-Time Warner merger.

"And that way, there's another national provider, and so it might actually help with the issues of regulatory concerns that might be out there," Hobson said.

AT&T will be smarter and more informed going into this, Hobson said, especially since their efforts to buy T-Mobile failed in 2011.

Hobson said she sees more consolidations in the future.

"Dish is still out there, and their CEO has not in any way suggested that they wouldn't be open to being bought, and so this is a moving conversation right now with a lot going on - a chess game that's big stakes."