DirecTV acquires Dish Network. Photo: Brighter TV Future

DirecTV’s deal to acquire Dish Network from EchoStar is off after Dish debt holders did not agree to a debt offer from EchoStar. 

DirecTV announced Nov. 21 that it would terminate the deal after the debt offer was not accepted. Dish debt holders reaching an agreement was a condition of DirecTV’s obligations to acquire Dish under the deal announced in September. 

The deal between the two main satellite TV providers in the U.S. falls apart after the companies have been rumored to merge for years. A merger deal was blocked in 2001 over anti-trust concerns. 

DirecTV and Dish said the merger would create a company better equipped to compete against streaming services and result in better negotiations over content. Collectively, the two companies have lost 63% of their satellite subscribers since 2016, as traditional pay TV penetration has fallen to less than 50% of U.S. households. 

“While we believed a combination of DirecTV and Dish would have benefitted all stakeholders, we have terminated the transaction because [the terms] were necessary to protect DirecTV’s balance sheet and our operational flexibility,” said Bill Morrow, CEO of DirecTV. 

This does not impact private equity firm TPG acquiring 70% of Dish in a move to own the whole company. TPG acquired 30% of Dish from AT&T in 2021 and is now acquiring the remaining share. That deal is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

This will impact EchoStar’s plans to refocus the company on mobile and satellite solutions, the other parts of its portfolio. Currently, pay-TV makes up about 67% of EchoStar’s revenue. 

After Dish bondholders reportedly rejected a deal earlier this month, EchoStar assured investors that the company has a path forward if the acquisition did not close, after recent transactions that improved its capital and debt maturity profile.

“If the exchange does not close successfully, we’ll continue to operate our business,” CEO Hamid Akhavan told investors on Nov. 12. “Our Dish business has been [the] primary business of this institution, and we continue to operate it as we have always have. … Whether the transaction closes or not, we do have a path forward now with the cash available to us from other sources. … We certainly can develop the business regardless of the developments that happen at [Dish].”