Dish Network and DIRECTV Talk Merger

[AmelFl]

Washington, D.C. (August 5, 2008) -- Dish Network is considering merging with rival satcaster DIRECTV, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

The newspaper reports that the companies have not discussed a formal proposal, but have had "general discussions" about the idea.

The two satcasters attempted to merge several years ago, but the FCC rejected the plan in 2002 on grounds that it would be anti-competitive.


However, in the years since, other video competition has emerged, including TV services from telco giants AT&T and Verizon and set-top Net TV services from Apple TV, Amazon, TiVo and Netflix.

WSJ reports that Dish CEO Ergen believes that federal regulators may be more receptive to a merger at this time, particularly after the agency just approved the satellite radio merger between XM and Sirius.

The two satcaster could not be reached for comment, Reuters reports.

[SomeRandomIdiot]

Don't worry as it will not happen. They waited too long to see outcome of XM and Sirius. It would never be approved in next 3 months prior to next administration coming to office and would be iffy then as McCain had not viewed it favorably several years ago and it would be turned down handsdown if Obama goes in White House.

[Roger 9]

There was a lot of chatter that Sirius and XM wouldn't get the go-ahead and yet it happened. I don't think two "satcasters" can survive in this economic environment and with DTV having a stranglehold on the number of subscribers (not to mention NFL exclusivity), I am not ready to write this off just yet.