DTV and Dish Network Discuss Merger Talks Again

[CSM]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/directv-dish-talks-again-merge-231024577.html

 

[slice1900]

Ridiculous. There would be no savings from combining them. They aren't going to save on satellite fleets or equipment since replacing either for the entire customer base of one them is never going to happen in the few years that satellite TV has left.

I don't think they'd even get payback combining back office tasks like billing and support. The cost of combining their computer systems might not get paid back.

The only reason to do it is executives getting golden parachutes for retiring and bonuses "for making the merger a success", and the percentage the investment bank involved would make. No chance in hell it would actually help the owners/shareholders of either company.

 

[John2021]

I see no benefits to them merging there two sinking ships

 

[CSM]

I see no benefits to them merging there two sinking ships

What about merging DTV Via the Net, DTV Stream and Sling TV into one Streaming Service? Plus, they could merge their offices, billing, customer service, broadcast centers, etc. to save money.

 

[Bruce]

What about merging DTV Via the Net, DTV Stream and Sling TV into one Streaming Service? Plus, they could merge their offices, billing, customer service, broadcast centers, etc. to save money.

Would save very little, both services have cut those departments to the minimum now, for example, if Dish bought DirecTV, that is bringing on a additional 10 Million, they would need more CSR to handle all the new /bringing over, subscribers.

So, merging all those departments, but will still need all those workers, that an expense.

 

[savarese04]

Ridiculous. There would be no savings from combining them. They aren't going to save on satellite fleets or equipment since replacing either for the entire customer base of one them is never going to happen in the few years that satellite TV has left.

I don't think they'd even get payback combining back office tasks like billing and support. The cost of combining their computer systems might not get paid back.

The only reason to do it is executives getting golden parachutes for retiring and bonuses "for making the merger a success", and the percentage the investment bank involved would make. No chance in hell it would actually help the owners/shareholders of either company.

I agree with this. Any savings that could be had would be so far down the road. Any short terms savings (by merging like departments, for instance) would be mitigated or probably cost more in engineering/time to merge the systems than the ROI in personnel. There's no savings if you still have to operate the companies separately.

The only win would be a bunch of top execs that would get nice bonuses to retire because, truthfully, those are the only redundant positions. By the time additional savings opportunities arise, the subscriber bases will be so tiny, they'll be out of business anyway.

 

[CSM]

DIRECTV & Dish Merging May Be the Only Way They Can Avoid Shutting Down | Cord Cutters News

Telecom giant AT&T and its joint-venture partner TPG are reportedly in the early stages of discussions to merge their satellite TV service, DIRECTV, with Dish Network, owned by EchoStar, according to a report from Bloomberg. This potential merger, if successful, would create the largest pay-TV...

cordcuttersnews.com

 

[CSM]

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/t-echostar-stocks-rise-potential-163057502.html

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

EchoStar rises on report of AT&T takeover offer

EchoStar rises on report of AT&T takeover offer

www.denverpost.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[navychop]

Hopper3.

Cold Dead Fingers.

 

[CSM]

EchoStar rises on report of AT&T takeover offer

EchoStar rises on report of AT&T takeover offer

www.denverpost.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

After reading that, the article says AT&T acquirin EchoStar would give AT&T a triple play bundle of TV, Internet and Phone. AT&T spun off DTV to get out of the TV business. Would this really be TPG acquiring EchoStar?

 

[Bruce]

After reading that, the article says AT&T acquirin EchoStar would give AT&T a triple play bundle of TV, Internet and Phone. AT&T spun off DTV to get out of the TV business. Would this really be TPG acquiring EchoStar?

Story absolutely makes no sense, why acquire a company with such high debt.

AT&T has plenty now-

AT&T long term debt for the quarter ending June 30, 2024 was $125.355B

They already own 70% of DirecTV, pay off TPG and fix what is wrong with DirecTV, who is holding only $10B of debt.

Unless AT&T really just wants the spectrum, no reason they would want Boost Mobile.

And considering all the different parts of Dish/Echostar, going to need approval from a bunch of different government agencies.

 

[CSM]

And considering all the different parts of Dish/Echostar, going to need approval from a bunch of different government agencies.

I think it will be easier this time around since there is more competition.

 

[satjay]

EchoStar rises on report of AT&T takeover offer

EchoStar rises on report of AT&T takeover offer

www.denverpost.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Scott,

With all the rumor’s over the years, what’s your feelings on this and the current talk on a merger

 

[John2021]

i see it pointless. after the merger they might be around for a while longer but not much longer. it's best just to let em die a slow death.

 

[Juan]

i see it pointless. after the merger they might be around for a while longer but not much longer. it's best just to let em die a slow death.

They will make money for awhile...they actually made less money adding customers like crazy

 

[Bruce]

Moffett argues it's "better to have one than none" in the US satellite pay-TV game, but questions whether the synergies the companies could ring out would be as great as some may hope due in part because Dish and DirecTV operate in two distinctly separate technology silos.

"There are no synergies in the satellite fleet because the two use different conditional access (scrambling) technology; synergy here would require replacing one or the other's fleet of set-top boxes, and that's not remotely worthwhile," Moffett explained.

But he does reckon that a combined company would have some success reducing customer churn, particularly among subscribers that tend to move back and forth from Dish to DirecTV and vice versa.

"But today they each capture so few gross additions that cutting them, potentially even in half, wouldn't amount to much," Moffett added.

Dish, DirecTV are in merger talks again – report

Dish and DirecTV are reportedly in talks to tie the knot – something that Charlie Ergen has long called 'inevitable.' If such a deal were to be consummated, analysts believe it would not have much trouble getting past regulators.

www.lightreading.com

So, if it really is AT&T looking to buy Dish, they would need to start developing new boxes soon.

 

[navychop]

Any merger would have to be carefully handled with the custies. Otherwise, there will be a lot of “well, I’ve got to change anyway; I might as well look at my other options.”

Some will leave just because they don’t like “the other guy.”

I’m interested in how they will sell this idea to the gummint. Vague “back room savings” won’t cut it.

PS- For a while, Echostar made boxes that could be programmed for both systems. A lot has changed since then. But maybe the hopper, with or without an additional box, could handle both. Doubtful, but maybe. I expect any requirement to swap out dishes and LNBs would be a killer.

 

[Bruce]

Any merger would have to be carefully handled with the custies. Otherwise, there will be a lot of “well, I’ve got to change anyway; I might as well look at my other options.”

Some will leave just because they don’t like “the other guy.”

I’m interested in how they will sell this idea to the gummint. Vague “back room savings” won’t cut it.

If it is just Dish Network TV Service, I doubt it would be much of a issue with the Government.

If it is for all of Echostar (Boost, 5G Spectrum, etc), that would make it more problematic, it gets the FTC, DoJ and the FCC more involved, for one example, the FCC has limitations on Dish/Echostar about the ability to sell the spectrum.

But again, looking at what AT&T did to DirecTV, I am amazed they are so willing to doing this dance again

 

[slice1900]

They will make money for awhile...they actually made less money adding customers like crazy

Much lower install costs since there are few new customers (and most of what few there are probably already had Directv or Dish in the past so the install is easy) and they no longer need to build new hardware since they have enough to go around. There's Gemini I guess but that's dirt cheap to make, and I assume Dish has something similar. Never gonna see an upgrade to HS17 or Hopper, that's for sure.

Probably save a lot of money on advertising too. When's the last time you saw an ad for Directv? They have to figure at this point the customers willing to consider satellite TV already know Directv and Dish exist.