For years there have been talks of a possible DIRECTV and Dish merger. Recently a possible merger between DIRECTV and DISH looks a little more realistic. Much like how XM and Sirius Radio merged to form SiriusXM Radio after it became clear both couldn’t survive on their own, now the same is being suggested for satellite TV services.
Now there are reports that both DIRECT and Dish are in talks for a possible merger, but that it may not be going well.
The growth of cord cutting and AT&T spinning DIRECTV off into its own company creates conditions that could make the merger a reality. For years every attempt to merge the two TV services died over fears of it creating a monopoly. Now with cord cutting, there is real competition for your TV service, removing objections over competition fears as services like YouTube TV, Hulu, Philo, and fuboTV, to name a few, offer real options.
Now though, as conditions for a possible merger are finally favorable, the talks have reportedly stalled over Money issues at Dish. This comes from a report by the New York Post, which says sources claim talks between Dish and DIRECTV have stalled as Dish struggles to find money for its operations.
At issue here is Dish’s need to finish its 5G buildout to meet FCC rules by 2025. Dish right now reportedly needs to spend billions to build out its 5G network.
Now with a possible merger with DIRECTV delayed or worse, it puts more pressure on Dish’s 5G wireless plans. The talks are not dead, but according to this report, a merger between Dish and DIRECTV is far from a done deal.
Dish’s subscriber numbers are down to just 7.42 million subscribers. This is down from 14.1 million in the 1st quarter of 2014. DIRECTV no longer reports subscriber numbers but as of the end of 2022, it was estimated by Statista that DIRECTV was down to just 13.1 million subscribers. This is down from the 25.47 million DIRECTV had back in 2015.
Bringing Dish and DIRECTV together could be the best option to help keep both services running.