This week, DirecTV announced that it intends to buy Dish, Sling TV and the rest of EchoStar's television business for $1 (while assuming all of Dish's debt), combining nearly 20 million satellite TV subscribers from two companies that revolve around one thing and another for decades.
But it's not just DirecTV and Dish. AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, General Electric, GM, News Corp, Tumblr and the various incarnations of Time Warner have also muddled or diverged over the years in an attempt to bridge the communications/media divide.
Here is a partial timeline of the events that could end with the final merger of these two companies.
AOL, that's Time Warner
At the beginning of the 21st century, it was clear that the Internet was the future. Instant communication between anyone in the world and the idea of digital distribution was irresistible, and AOL seemed to be on top of the world.
What better way for Time Warner to get a foothold on the ground floor than by joining forces with the company that rose to the top one 60-hour CD at a time? In 2009 it was all over.
The satellite age is upon us and telecommunications is getting involved
The acquisitions of Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T were an attempt to take over the media landscape built on their networks, with varying degrees of success, spawning brands like Oath, WarnerMedia, and Peacock, as well as the completely forgotten Go90.
Welcome to the future of streaming
Over the next few years, AT&T executives spread bad ideas for Game of Thrones, like shooting “snackable” vertical video versions. The company eventually launched HBO Max before demoting HBO from its streaming brand and rebranding the service as Max.
You know what happened next: Netflix never looked back on its journey to 270 million subscribers worldwide, and Disney reintroduced the streaming package. At the same time, both Quibi and CNN Plus evaporated too quickly to make an impact.
Ultimately, Verizon sold what was left of Oath to Apollo Global Management, and then AT&T sent WarnerMedia into a partnership with Discovery. Now AT&T is selling all of DirecTV to TPG. That's the private equity firm behind this new $1 attempt to merge with Dish Network again while EchoStar can continue its quest to build a nationwide Open RAN 5G network.
We'll see everyone here in another 20 years to find out how it all worked out, okay?
Disclosure: Comcast is an investor in Vox Media, The edgeis the parent company.