This week DIRECTV made it official that it will buy DISH and Sling TV for $1 from its parent company Echo Starr. With this deal, DIRECTV will also take over billions in debt from DISH, including an almost $2 billion payment due in November.
Recently we have been flooded with questions about what is next and when will the deal close, so we are going to try and answer that and give you our best insights on what is happening.
What is next for DIRECTV and DISH?
Right now, DIRECTV and DISH are starting a long process of federal approvals for the deal. We fully expect that these two deals will be approved, but it’s possible some limitations or requirements will be put on the deal to receive federal approval.
Approval for the deal is widely expected to take about a year from the federal government.
When will the deal close?
According to DIRECTV the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025.
What does this mean for subscribers of DISH and Sling TV?
In the short term nothing is changing. Both companies will continue to operate on their own for over a year still.
After the merger little will likely change at first, but what will DIRECTV do with four different TV services? It’s widely expected that the satellite TV services will slowly, over years, merge into a single service.
For DIRECTV STREAM and Sling TV, the future is unknown—both are very different live TV streaming services.
It is possible that the future of Sling TV and DIRECTV STREAM are in the hands of the DOJ and FCC. What limitations and rules will they put on DIRECTV to get the deal approved could have a massive impact on what happens to these two services.