Who's getting Hughes(NYSE: GMH)? Another company's hat is in the ring today, after SBC Communications(NYSE: SBC) is said to be considering a $10 billion bid for the DirecTV owner.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) owns 80% of Hughes. After regulators quashed EchoStar's(Nasdaq: DISH) $18 billion bid, the auto maker has been trying to sell off all or part of the satellite TV unit. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.(NYSE: NWS) has long-lusted after Hughes like a money-hungry girl for Joe Millionaire, and SBC's move could throw a serious kink into its plans.

SBC is the country's second-largest local telephone provider. What does it want with a satellite TV company? SBC hopes Hughes and DirecTV can help it compete more effectively against cable companies such as Cox(NYSE: COX) and Comcast(Nasdaq: CMCSK), which are increasingly stepping on the toes of local phone companies. Additionally, as core business revenues decline (SBC anticipates 2003 sales will drop off by a low, single-digit percentage), DirecTV could give the company other much-needed revenue streams.

With declining revenues and more than five times as much long-term debt as cash, though, now might not be the time for SBC to branch out into the satellite market. Besides, it's common knowledge that Murdoch and Co. don't give up easily when they've got their minds set on something. Like another episode of Celebrity Boxing, this fight could get ugly.