DirecTV, Dish Strike Pointless Merger In Last Gasp Effort To Stay Relevant
from the merge-ALL-the-things! dept
Culminating a deal that’s been rumored about for the better part of the last twenty years, Dish Network and DirecTV have struck a new merger in a bid to try and remain relevant. It’s not going to help.
The deal involves DirecTV acquiring Dish for one dollar, in addition to $9.75 billion in Dish’s debt. The deal will combine Dish’s 8.1 million (and shrinking) subscriber base with DirecTV’s 11 million (and shrinking) subscriber base in the hopes of creating something semi-interesting.
As per tradition, the company’s press release proclaims that the deal will result in all manner of amazing new synergies, including lower prices for consumers:
“DIRECTV was founded 30 years ago to give consumers greater choices than incumbent cable companies for video content, and the Company’s acquisition of DISH TV and Sling TV positions it to again provide more choices and better value in an industry currently dominated by large streaming platforms.”
That’s generally not what happens. Instead, the merging companies are saddled with so much new debt and distraction from the consolidation that they’re forced to either raise prices on consumers or take an axe to things like foundational customer service, driving more customers to the exits. There’s also the issue of untold layoffs as the two companies eliminate redundant positions.
Both Dish Network and DirecTV have been bleeding satellite TV subscribers for years to streaming. And while both companies have embraced streaming themselves (like Dish’s Sling TV), that hasn’t gone well either. Neither has Dish’s effort to pivot into wireless with a shitty new 5G network cobbled together by the Trump administration to try and downplay the competitive harms of the T-Mobile and Sprint merger.
You might recall that AT&T acquired DirecTV and Time Warner in the belief they could create a video advertising juggernaut. Instead the $200 billion in mergers resulted in an absolute bloodbath of debt, layoffs, higher consumer prices and a worse overall product. AT&T jettisoned its remaining 70% of DirecTV this week at a major loss.
These are dying companies that lack the money, support, or strategic competence to accomplish the innovative pivots they’d like to perform, and these deals will only be a delayed distraction from the inevitable. U.S. business press coverage of the deal, as per tradition, won’t make any of that clear to the workers or consumers who’ll soon be first in line to foot the bill.
Filed Under: 5g, cable, consolidation, media, mergers, satellite tv, streaming, tv, wireless
Companies: directv, dish, echostar
Comments on “DirecTV, Dish Strike Pointless Merger In Last Gasp Effort To Stay Relevant”
As is mentioned Many times
“dying companies that lack the money, support, or strategic competence to accomplish the innovative pivots”
They wanted to created a Juggernaut of Advertising.
BUT THAT isnt what we pay for. And they add CHEAP channels to get more people to Watch and listen to, But 1000 channels of Crap is an Abundance of Crap.
Very true for DTV and ES. I was lucky with DTV. Bought the stock when it was just starting out. AT&T acquired it for maybe $75/share.
Not a good idea at all
I’ve had Dish for nearly 25 years with no issues. I live in a rural area of the San Fernando Valley. I look down on 1.7M people, but can’t get cable or Internet unless it’s over satellite. Direct TV is a horrible provider, anyone I know who has it is disgusted. constant price increases, constant outages, horrible. not looking forward to this abortion of an arrangement at all.
"Better value" =/= "Lower prices"
The post states: “As per tradition, the company’s press release proclaims that the deal will result in all manner of amazing new synergies, including lower prices for consumers”.
Point of order: the quoted section of the press release never directly mentions lowering prices because if it did, the PR droid who sharted it out would have been fired immediately. This particular oxygen thief has instead chosen to mention “increased value”; a phrase so meaningless and unfalsifiable in the context of streaming services that it gives the company free license to do pretty much anything, including immediately raising prices post-merger, and still claim that they have “brought increased value to consumers”. Y’know… standard corporate weasel words, the “art” of saying everything while promising nothing.
Nostradamus
“I’d wager that Dish fails completely before 2025”
Well done Mr Bode. From his June ’23 story (the 5G link).