Charlie thinks DISH and DIRECTV should merge.

[Scott Greczkowski]

DISH Thinks That DISH & DIRECTV Should Merge | Cord Cutters News

Today during DISH’s 4th quarter 2019 earnings call DISH was asked about a possible DISH and DIRECTV merger. According to DISH executives, it eventually makes sense for these two services to merge as the market changes. DISH’s CEO Charlie Ergen said that the merger of DISH and DIRECTV feels...

www.cordcuttersnews.com

 

[navychop]

Sigh. Deja vu all over again.

 

[mdram]

i have no problem, as long as someone other than charlie is in charge

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

i have no problem, as long as someone other than charlie is in charge

He couldn't do worse the AT&T is doing with DIRECTV.

 

[charlesrshell]

I hope Charlie is completely in charge if a merger happens.

 

[mdram]

He couldn't do worse the AT&T is doing with DIRECTV.

depends on who you ask.
i personally have had much better luck with att

 

[ekilgus]

I think for a merger to be possible AT&T would have to agree to sell Direct TV to Charlie, something they're not likely to contemplate In the short term.

Besides, they paid a lot for Direct TV and most likely would have to sell it to Charlie at essentially a bargain basement price.

 

[bluenerd]

If Dish gets in bed with AT&T consider this my cancel request.

 

[907TECH]

Lots of speculation...

 

[NashGuy]

I think for a merger to be possible AT&T would have to agree to sell Direct TV to Charlie, something they're not likely to contemplate In the short term.

Besides, they paid a lot for Direct TV and most likely would have to sell it to Charlie at essentially a bargain basement price.

I don't see AT&T making on move on this until at least next year. The current CEO, Stephenson, was the guy who championed the company's acquisition of DirecTV, which was clearly a mistake in hindsight. He has said he'll remain at AT&T through this year but won't say whether he'll be around longer than that. If and when AT&T sells or spins off DirecTV, it will reveal how much less that unit is now worth and what a poor investment the company made in buying it. I can't see Stephenson allowing that to happen until he's out the door.

That said, it was always clear that AT&T bought DirecTV in order to acquire the huge customer base and the carriage contracts with the cable networks, nor for the satellite-based infrastructure/technology. Being the largest cable TV provider in the nation gave them strong negotiating power with all those national and local channels and ensured more favorable carriage rates, which the company has now extended to their other cable TV platforms, Uverse TV and its replacement AT&T TV, as various carriage contracts have been renewed since acquiring DirecTV back in 2015.

I think AT&T would rather be out of the satellite TV business entirely but they're first going to want to get their new AT&T TV and HBO Max products stood up this year. Some DirecTV subs will transition over to AT&T TV, although many won't.

If Stephenson is out next year, I can definitely see AT&T trying to either sell DirecTV outright to DISH or for both companies to form a joint venture holding company that would own and operate both DirecTV and DISH with the intention of standardizing on one set of channel packages and prices. That would immediately eliminate each service's main competitor.

 

[Juan]

Yes he could...no sports

He couldn't do worse the AT&T is doing with DIRECTV.

Sent from my SM-G950U using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[raoul5788]

He couldn't do worse the AT&T is doing with DIRECTV.

Sure he could, he could take away the YES network from Directv!

 

[raoul5788]

Did we just agree on something Juan?

 

[navychop]

I wonder where the dollars fall:
Cost to maintain two systems
Cost to consolidate on one

 

[mdram]

I wonder where the dollars fall:
Cost to maintain two systems
Cost to consolidate on one

# of directv systems to replace vs dish systems

 

[NashGuy]

I wonder where the dollars fall:
Cost to maintain two systems
Cost to consolidate on one

Lots of guys on sites such as this who are familiar with DBS technology immediately think about the costs/benefits of consolidating two separate DBS systems into one. But I believe that's a completely secondary issue. The main reason to merge would be to eliminate your only direct competitor and to retain scale (i.e. large number of total subscribers) for as long as possible.

My guess is that a combined DirectDISH would spend as little money as possible when it comes to consolidating the two systems. They'd never go out and replace all of one side's installed hardware with the other side's stuff. They'd always have to keep operating both fleets of satellites. But they could standardize on one set of hardware and one set of channel packages for all new customers going forward.

 

[charlesrshell]

Lots of guys on sites such as this who are familiar with DBS technology immediately think about the costs/benefits of consolidating two separate DBS systems into one. But I believe that's a completely secondary issue. The main reason to merge would be to eliminate your only direct competitor and to retain scale (i.e. large number of total subscribers) for as long as possible.

My guess is that a combined DirectDISH would spend as little money as possible when it comes to consolidating the two systems. They'd never go out and replace all of one side's installed hardware with the other side's stuff. They'd always have to keep operating both fleets of satellites. But they could standardize on one set of hardware and one set of channel packages for all new customers going forward.

I also think too that this streaming stuff is nothing but a passing fad. As the cost still keep going up for it customers will realize what a better deal satellite TV is. The DVRs are awesome compared to streaming. I bet the satellite business will be doing a come back in a couple of years.

 

[Tar Heel]

Maybe I'll be able to watch Fox Sports regional channels again?

 

[LQQK]

Streaming is not a Fad.

 

[mwdxer1]

DISH Thinks That DISH & DIRECTV Should Merge | Cord Cutters News

Today during DISH’s 4th quarter 2019 earnings call DISH was asked about a possible DISH and DIRECTV merger. According to DISH executives, it eventually makes sense for these two services to merge as the market changes. DISH’s CEO Charlie Ergen said that the merger of DISH and DIRECTV feels...

www.cordcuttersnews.com

This may come to pass in time if the Feds will allow it as AT&T (Direct) has been losing subs left and right. The latest report has Dish subs with Sling nearly 12 million, so they are still holding their own. I would be for the merge, only if Dish controlled Direct. I am sure that is what Charlie would have in mind.