Los Angeles Times: AT&T and DirecTV appear increasingly optimistic that their $48.5-billion marriage soon will win the blessing of federal regulators. The two companies have agreed to extend their merger agreement, which had been scheduled to expire Monday. “Each of AT&T and DirecTV has elected to extend the … ‘termination date’ of the merger agreement for a short period of time to facilitate obtaining final regulatory approval required to close the merger,” AT&T said. AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV would create the nation’s largest pay-TV company with more than 25 million customers in the U.S.