Can Charlie Ergen and John Malone work together? The report in Bloomberg suggests that Dish may be looking at a merger with its satellite rival to better compete against fiber providers. As the article indicates, Ergen has been active in the marketplace, trying to takeover Clearwire in an attempt to gain a bigger wireless presence. Synergies with DirecTv could also help in Dish's favor. But would the FCC agree to such a merger?
Given what has been enabled in the airline industry with Continental/United and USAir/American Airlines, anything is possible. Even Sirius/XM Satellite were approved to merge. But is Malone ready to give up DirecTv or share control with Ergen? Two strong personalities in a quickly changing media landscape.
Given the rise in wireless and broadband, competition would still remain strong. The addition of Google into the mix and the strength of cable and telephone companies in the space remain the fiercest competitors to both Dish and DirecTv. A strong wireless play would enable them to compete more effectively against these companies.And I suspect should a merger be announced, the FCC would approve it.
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