DIRECTV-Dish Sale In Doubt Due to Debt Issues

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow me on X.
Former editor of Satellite DIRECT magazine. Reported on DIRECTV for 30 years.

The DIRECTV-Dish merger continues to run up against a roadblock of Dish debtors with Bloomberg News now reporting that the creditors just rejected Dish’s proposal to reduce their loss if the deal becomes a reality.

DIRECTV agreed on September 30 to purchase Dish’s satellite TV business and Sling TV, the live streaming service, for $1. However, the deal also includes DIRECTV assuming Dish’s debt which is around $10 billion.

Dish’s creditors say the transaction would cost them as much as $1.6 billion, according to Bloomberg News. 

In a letter to DIRECTV, the creditors say the two satellite providers “crafted a deal that allows shareholder to further siphon billions of dollars of value away…while asking (the) creditors to voluntarily forfeit over $1.56 billion in value they are owed. It should be no surprise to anyone that such a deal is unworkable.”

Bloomberg says Dish proposed on October 29 to lower that loss by $70 million with an acceptance deadline of today at 5 p.m. ET. The creditors have said DIRECTV and Dish can negotiate a new deal with them, close the sale and pay a premium, or face a lawsuit, according to Bloomberg.

It’s unclear if they would file a lawsuit today if a new agreement is not approved by today’s deadline.

In addition to resolving the creditors’ issue, the DIRECTV-Dish sale must be approved by federal regulators which could take up to a year. (Here’s our prediction on whether the sale will be approved.)

If approved, the DIRECTV-Dish deal will give DIRECTV nearly 20 million subscribers, making it the largest multi-channel, pay TV service in the nation.

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The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.