Opening of a satellite for the merger of satellite TV activities with DirecTV of AT & T: report

FILE PHOTO: The panel in the lobby of Dish Network's headquarters is visible in the Denver suburbs of Englewood, Colorado on April 6, 2011. REUTERS / Rick Wilking

June 7, 2019

(Reuters) – Dish Network Corp is set to merge its satellite TV business with DirecTV, AT & T Inc.'s pay-TV service, but the two companies have no ongoing conversations, according to a Bloomberg report accessed by Reuters.

Dish's shares climbed 6.3% after the report on Friday, while AT & T's shares rose 1.9%.

Dish and DirecTV both lose their subscribers, as viewers continue to move towards cheaper online streaming services such as Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Prime's premium service.

The Bloomberg report comes one day after the brokerage, UBS wrote a note outlining the benefits of a merger between Dish and DirecTV.

Dish and AT & T did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

(Report by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru, edited by Maju Samuel)