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DIRECTV AGREED TO acquire rival pay-TV provider Dish Network for $1, plus the assumption of debt. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, includes the purchase of Dish TV and Sling TV from owner EchoStar in exchange for DirecTV taking on $9.75 billion of Dish's debt, the companies said in a joint statement. Dish and DirecTV expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter of 2025 if it is approved by the Federal Communications Commission. However, the companies proposed an $18.5 billion deal in 2002 that the FTC blocked over monopoly and antitrust concerns, according to a report published in The New York Times. "DIRECTV operates in a highly competitive video distribution industry," said Bill Morrow, DirecTV's CEO. "With greater scale, we believe a combined DirecTV and Dish will be better positioned to work with programmers, aggregate and distribute content tailored to customers' interests, and achieve operational efficiencies while creating value for customers through additional investment."