Six years ago, News Corp (NYSE: NWS). lost some 2 billion euros in its investment into the German media and pay-TV company Kirch Group that eventually went bankrupt. But the time it’s apparently ripe for a return to the European pay-TV market, with News Corp eyeing Germany’s Premiere AG and Spain’s Digital +. The WSJ has a closer look at the company’s possible bids for the two satellite broadcasters, which the paper notes is a “significant change of tack in Europe,” for News Corp. and would cost more than 4 billion euros (£3.2 billion).

In the last six months, News Corp has so far built up a 25.01 percent stake in Premiere, and according to speculation wants to buy the entire company, or at the very least put in its own people to help run it. As for Digital +, the company is currently valued at around 3-3.5 billion euros (£2.4-2.8 billion), though it could be higher depending on its debt levels. Vivendi (EPA: VIV) is also reportedly interested in the Spanish pay-tv provider, which could mean a bidding war.

Buying the two companies would certainly give News Corp “greater leverage” when buying satellite space and negotiating content deals with Hollywood. But neither is a bargain, and the media giant may be forced to choose between the two. Plus, even if they did buy one or both companies, they’ll have to work hard to make the companies deliver. Pay TV isn’t popular in Spain or Germany, where people, apparently, prefer pirating satellite TV signals. As the WSJ points notes, Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) had to make its Disney Channel free in Spain because they couldn’t get enough people to pay for it. Their money might also be better spent in emerging markets, like India.