DirecTV to Acquire Longtime Satellite TV Rival Dish Network

The companies note that DirecTV and Dish Network combined have lost 63 percent of their satellite customers since 2016.

The logo of DirecTV broadcast satellite service provider at its headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 19, 2020. Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images

Satellite TV provider DirecTV has announced plans to acquire EchoStar’s video distribution business, which includes longtime rival Dish TV as well as streaming service Sling TV, through a debt-exchange transaction.

A similar deal to merge the two companies was blocked in 2002 after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission cited antitrust concerns.  In announcing the new deal, DirecTV made the case that a changing market has removed those concerns.