Satellite-TV providers DirecTV, Dish in talks to merge again: Bloomberg

Telecom operator AT&T (NYSE:T) and joint-venture partner TPG Capital (NASDAQ:TPG) are in talks to merge their DirecTV service with EchoStar’s (NASDAQ:SATS) Dish, Bloomberg reported Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The deal would create the largest pay-TV provider in the U.S., but it’s not the first time the companies have tried to merge. The companies attempted to combine in 2022, but were blocked by the U.S. Justice Department.

According to the report, the deal discussions between DirecTV and EchoStar are in the early stages. An agreement has not yet been reached, and the talks could still end without one.

AT&T (T), TPG (TPG), DirecTV and Dish did not immediately respond to a Seeking Alpha request for comment.

While the deal is expected to draw antitrust scrutiny again, the market has expanded since with the entry of players like Amazon’s (AMZN) Prime Video, Google’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) YouTube TV, Netflix (NFLX), Comcast (CMCSA) and Charter (CHTR).

AT&T (T) spun-off DirecTV as part of a deal with TPG in 2021 in a deal that valued the company at $16 billion. The telecom giant gave up operating control of the satellite provider and its U-verse and AT&T television operations, while maintaining a 70% financial stake in a spun-off DirecTV company.

AT&T (T) had been reportedly looking over options on the joint venture, including a dividend recapitalization; adding a new investor; or selling out of the joint venture.

Last week, Disney (DIS) cut access to its network for over 11 million DirecTV subscribers after the two failed to renew their distribution agreement before it expired on Sunday.

In August, a judge blocked a major joint sports streaming service planned for the fall from Disney (DIS), Fox (FOX) (FOXA) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).