DirecTV and Dish TV agreed to merge in a historic deal announced on Monday. The merger still needs to be approved by regulators, but if it is it would bring together two of the biggest satellite TV providers in the business with a total of 20 million subscribers in the U.S., according to a report by The New York Times. However, it would also be a life-saving move for Dish’s parent company, EchoStar, which is deeply in debt and is approaching a major deadline.
The proposed merger would see DirecTV acquiring EchoStar’s entire TV business, which includes DishTV and the streaming service Sling TV. For the satellite business, that brings Dish’s 8.1 million users into the fold with DireTV’s 11 million users, but it also means DirecTV would assume Dish’s debt. That’s a total of $9.75 billion. Under the terms of the deal, DirecTV would only pay a symbolic one dollar
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