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. Last year reports came out that AT&T is actively looking for a buyer for its remaining 70% ownership of DIRECTV. Now Dish’s current CEO has opened up about his thoughts on a possible sale during its most recent earnings call according to Deadline.
“I can’t speak to how inevitable it is,” Hamid Akhavan the CEO of EchoStar the parent company of DISH said. “To me, obviously there are significant synergies there, when you look at the two businesses being in the same space. Both businesses are under attack from the content providers and [face] other challenges. The opportunity is there, has always been there. It’s a matter of us getting to finding the right time and economics to look at it.”
Now that AT&T is actively looking to merge, will it finally happen? Will DISH still be interested? DISH is currently in the middle of a merger with Echostar, raising the question if they would even want to merge with DIRECTV right now.
Back in June 2023, there were reports that both DIRECTV and Dish are in talks for a possible merger. Now, these talks are not just to work together on ads but for the two companies to find a way to finally merge into a single service.
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. This means fears over the FCC blocking a merger because of competition concerns have almost vanished.
Now, though, as conditions for a possible merger are finally favorable, the talks have reportedly stalled over possible 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 in 2023 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 though things have changed after DISH closed its merger with EchoStar. The question now is will AT&T be willing to give Dish a second look?
So will a merger between DISH and DIRECTV happen?
It is very possible that a merger between the two companies could soon happen. Money has long been an issue but a merger between the two services would make them the largest provider of TV. It would also bring together to large streaming services with Sling TV and DIRECTV.
The potential to make the largest provider of live TV in the United States could be something that would bring out investors looking to back the deal. If that happens, it is very possible that we will see DISH and DIRECTV finally merge.
The question now is likely one of money. AT&T likely is not interested in buying DISH right now. DISH may not be able to afford DIRECTV at this time as it spends most of its money on its 5G network.
So, will this merger finally happen? Right now, it seems to be more of an issue of will some backers will bring the money. Now, though, both companies could be finally ready to merge but may need help with the money. If a merger doesn’t happen now, it may never happen.
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