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The
two companies first attempted to merge back in 2002 when the
U.S. Justice Department blocked the tie-up. The combined entity
would create the largest pay-TV service provider in the U.S. at
about 16 million subscribers, if the talks are successful. The
potential deal would likely attract antitrust scrutiny again
although it might be able to clear regulatory hurdles this time
as the industry has expanded substantially since then and
DirecTV and Dish now compete against the likes of Comcast,
Charter, Amazon Prime, YouTube TV, and Netflix. A merger would
enhance the combined company's ability to negotiate with
programmers, much like DirecTV is doing with Disney right now as
the two sides are locked in a carriage dispute.
For Dish, the deal would allow them to focus all of their
investments on building out their 5G wireless network.
"Rumors about a potential transaction involving DirecTV and Dish
are nothing new, but we don't comment on rumors and
speculation," a spokesperson for DirecTV said in an emailed
statement to Reuters.
DirecTV and Dish have held on-and-off talks over the years since
their first attempt to merge was blocked in 2002.
EchoStar closed its acquisition of Dish in late 2023.
Dish did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for
comments outside of business hours. TPG and AT&T declined to
comment.
DirecTV is facing a public battle with Disney that has led to 11
million DirecTV customers losing access to ESPN in the middle of
the U.S. Open tennis tournament.
The dispute is taking place against the backdrop of a competing
plan by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros Discovery to launch a
streaming video joint venture devoted to sports, called Venu
Sports.
The launch was temporarily blocked by a court injunction as part
of a lawsuit filed by sports streaming rival FuboTV accusing the
media companies of anticompetitive behavior.
Bloomberg reported on the talks between Dish and DirecTV earlier
on Friday.
(Reporting by Anirban Sen, Additional reporting by Urvi Dugar,
Harshita Meenaktshi and Dawn Chmielewski; Editing by Sandra
Maler, Rosalba O'Brien and Michael Perry)
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