Key Points and Summary – DIRECTV’s plan to combine with Dish collapsed after Dish noteholders rejected a discounted debt swap, scuttling the latest attempt to consolidate satellite TV.
-The setback comes amid accelerating cord-cutting: EchoStar/Dish reported steep pay-TV losses, DIRECTV is widely estimated near 11 million subscribers, and new DIRECTV price increases hit in October.
-Strategy is shifting, too—DIRECTV is steering some new customers to its streaming product instead of satellite.
-Analysts say the terms offered Charlie Ergen too little upside and old regulatory scars linger. Bottom line: fewer subscribers, higher prices, and a pivot to IP video—while a “inevitable” mega-merger remains elusive.
DIRECTV and Dish Network Can’t Merge…Here’s Why
Last November, DIRECTV called off its plans to merge with longtime rival Dish Network, after Dish’s noteholders objected to the terms of the deal.
“While we believed a combination of DIRECTV and DISH would have benefitted all stakeholders, we have terminated the transaction because the proposed Exchange Terms were necessary to protect DIRECTV’s balance sheet and our operational flexibility,” Bill Morrow, CEO of DIRECTV, said in a statement at the time.
The deal, the New York Times reported at the time, would have required two-thirds of Dish’s creditors to agree “to exchange their debt in Dish for debt in the combined company at a discount,” which led those creditors to threaten to sue.
A Broken Merger
The two sides had agreed, in late September of 2024, to combine their satellite businesses, with DIRECTV acquiring Dish Network and Sling TV, with EchoStar hanging on to the 5G business.
“DIRECTV will advance our mission to aggregate, curate, and distribute content tailored to customers’ interests by pursuing innovative products and providing customers with additional choice, flexibility, and control. We are well positioned for the future with a strong balance sheet and support from our long-term partner TPG.”
A report by FierceWireless looked at why the latest merger attempt fell apart.
“It was just too much of a haircut with too much of an upside for Charlie Ergen,” Recon Analytics founder Roger Entner said, per the report. “The sweetener was not sweet enough.”
It was only the latest attempt by the two satellite broadcast companies to merge. DIRECTV and Dish’s parent company, EchoStar, agreed to merge in 2001, but the FCC had declined to approve it. There were other discussions about a merger at other times, at various stages of the satellite sector’s decline, and Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen has declared on multiple earnings calls that a merger between the companies was “inevitable.”
The Decline Continues
Now that DIRECTV is mostly a privately held company and is not majority-owned by AT&T, it no longer announces quarterly subscriber numbers as part of a public earnings report. Leichtman Research Group, a research firm that long released quarterly reports about cable and satellite subscribers, stopped releasing its reports to the public last year.
All indications are that the satellite sector has continued to bleed subscribers.
Echostar/Dish still releases subscriber numbers, and it lost 289,000 pay TV subscribers in the second quarter of 2025. Per The Desk, the company ended that quarter with about 7.1 million pay TV subscribers, 5.323 million for Dish, and 1.785 million for Sling TV.
Variety reported that DIRECTV, as of earlier this year, was believed to have about 11 million subscribers.
Moffett Nathanson reported that in the second quarter of 2024, the satellite providers lost 495,000, while cable providers lost over 1 million.
Meanwhile, The Street reported that DIRECTV will be raising prices by a significant amount in October.
“Specifically, customers on DirecTV’s Choice plan, its second-cheapest satellite TV package, will see their monthly bill increase by $9 a month. Customers on the Ultimate plan will face an $11 increase in their monthly bill.” Even DirecTV Stream customers with the Movie Extra Pack add-on will see a price increase.
A Business Shift
And in June, DIRECTV announced that in select areas, it would no longer offer satellite TV subscriptions to new subscribers, and instead encourage new customers to subscribe to its streaming service. Variety reported that this was a “trial run.”
“The decision to phase out satellite TV for new customers in certain areas comes as streaming services continue to dominate the entertainment landscape,” Cord Cutters News reported.
“DIRECTV’s streaming service, accessible via the internet and compatible with devices like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, the company’s proprietary Gemini device, and more offers a flexible alternative to traditional satellite TV.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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