Millions In Washington State Impacted By Mega Media Merger

A massive media merger announced earlier today will impact millions of Washingtonians that have satellite and streaming subscriptions.  It's no secret that the viewing landscape is always changing.  When television first became a thing in 1926, your options were local channels picked up through an antenna.

The Birth of Cable Television

CATV (Community Antenna TV) was introduced in 1948.  Antennas were build on mountain tops to help those in areas that struggled with regular reception.  That was the beginning of Cable TV.  Cable revolutionized the industry by providing access.  In 1972 the first pay cable channel, Home Box Office (HBO), launched and the industry again charted a new course.

It was HBO that inspired the drive to create a nationwide satellite network.  Not long after America had it's first 'Superstation' as Ted Turner would use the new technology to launch WTBS in living rooms around the country.  United States Satellite Broadcasting would launch in 1981opening viewing option into a whole new realm.

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Satellite Launches onto the Landscape

1990 saw seven cable companies join together and launch Primestar become the first direct broadcasting satellite service in North America.  Four years later Hughes Electronics (owned by General Motors) would introduce DirecTV.  In 1996 Echostar brought Dish Network to life.  Then, right before the turn of the century, Hughes would sell Primestar to DirecTV this creating the two company system that existed for the last 25 years.

 The Age Of The Internet

Around the same time Satellite was coming into it's own, the internet came into being.  As the internet grew, so did its capability.  Before long, you had content able to be digested in written word, audio, and visual forms.  Today, 67% of the world has connection to the internet.  YouTube became the first content streaming service in 2005 with Netflix becoming the first pay service in 2007.

Currently Disney, Paramount+, Max, and Peacock account for over 300 million subscribers in the U.S.  That is about 30 million more than Netflix's global imprint of 270 million subscribers.  streaming has become a half a trillion dollar industry due to it's al a carte offerings and minimal to no clutter that cable and satellite can't offer.  It's led to massive merger that will impact millions of subscribers around the Evergreen State.

The Merger That Was Twenty Two Years in The Making

Back in 2002 a merger was proposed between DirecTV and Dish Network.  It was blocked by the FCC and the DOJ, along with 23 states, filed a lawsuit to stop it for fear of a satellite monopoly.  In 2002 that was a concern, now it is an afterthought.  DirecTV will finally be purchasing Dish Network.  In 2002 the merger was worth $19 billion, today Direct will buy Dish for $1.  Yep...one whole dollar.

That isn't all of the moving and shaking though.  Right before the Dish Network purchase was announced, AT&T, which bought Direct for $48.6 billion in 2015, sold it to California based equity firm TPG for $7.6 billion...a loss of $41 billion.  TPG then began negotiating to acquire Echostar, the parent company of Dish Network as well as streaming service Sling TV, and spectrum mobile.

The FCC won't be standing in the way this time as satellite has seen it's competitive advantage dwindle while streaming has become arguably the major player in the industry.  TPG has announced no changes will come to any of the platforms for the foreseeable future but you can expect to see some bundling offers of satellite service, Sling, and Spectrum mobile sooner than later.

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