DirecTV and Dish Network are merging in a $10 billion deal that would create the nation’s largest pay-TV provider.
Transcript:
Conway Gittens: It was a skittish stock market Monday but for the Dow and the S&P 500, September marked the 10th monthly gain out of the last 11.
Looking ahead to Tuesday: Wall Street will get the Institute for Supply Management’s factory survey for September, layoff and job turnover data for August, and Nike’s first quarterly results since announcing a new CEO.
In other news: Satellite TV customers are about to have fewer options. DirecTV and Dish Network are merging in a $10 billion deal that would create the nation’s largest pay-TV provider.
The question surrounding this proposed merger isn’t why, but what took so long? Viewers have cut the cord at an alarming rate, leaving all pay-TV operators in an existential crisis. Combined, the two companies say they will have roughly 18 million customers. That’s a head-spinning 63 percent plunge from peak subscriber numbers in 2016. Compare that to others in the industry – both Charter and Comcast had about 13 million subscribers as of the end of the second quarter.
DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said “With greater scale, we expect a combined DirecTV and Dish will be better able to work with programmers to realize our vision for the future of TV, which is to aggregate, curate and distribute content tailored to customers’ interests, and to be better positioned to realize operating efficiencies while creating value for customers through additional investment.”
So what does this mean for customers? The possibility of more blocked out channels and more fights between satellite companies and channel owners. In September, DirecTV customers lost access to Disney-owned channels like ESPN and ABC.
And what about prices? DirecTV had previously announced price increases for October before the merger news. Streaming customers will have to pay 6 to 10 dollars more a month, while satellite TV prices are going up by as much as 10 bucks. A $7 price increase went into effect at Dish starting in September.
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