DirecTV and Dish are in advanced talks to merge in a deal that could create the largest US pay-TV provider, with more than 20 million subscribers, according to multiple reports.
The agreement could be announced as early as Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday evening. It would also include Sling TV, Dish’s streaming television brand.
Both satellite-TV companies have been hemorrhaging customers opting for less expensive, easier-to-cancel streaming services.
The proposed deal would give DirecTV-parent AT&T and private equity firm TPG a way to dramatically slash costs. For Dish, it would provide Charlie Ergen, the co-founder of parent company EchoStar, with a lifeline from crushing debt payments, Bloomberg reported.
The companies have flirted with a merger before, holding talks several times over the past two decades. In 2001, Ergen tried to combine the two satellite TV networks, but was thwarted by regulators.
The bold negotiating tactics of Ergen, a former poker player, has complicated other efforts, including its more recent negotiations in 2022.
It’s unclear if federal regulators would see the pay-TV landscape as competitive this time around, as they once had, and block the proposed deal, or see how bleak satellite TV’s future has become due to the rise of streaming.
In 2015, the pay-TV industry, including cable and satellite, had 104 million US subscribers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.
That figure has shriveled to fewer than 70 million this year amid cord-cutting and the dramatic growth of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
DirecTV also took a hit recently when it lost the Sunday Ticket package to YouTube TV.
