The companies have long coveted a combination, though a formal proposal was scuttled by the FCC in 2002.
A lot has happened in the intervening two decades and the companies are experiencing major stress due to cord-cutting.
AT&T owns 70% of DirecTV, with private equity firm TPG controlling the rest.
EchoStarPhoto Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Unlike broadband purveyors with TV services, DirecTV and Dish can only offer video.
Even if it were to prevail, though, the analyst has reservations.
Synergies, for example, are limited, he argued in a note to clients Monday.
We are skeptical about pick-and-choose synergies in programming agreements, for example, Moffett wrote.
The two mega-deals cost AT&T tens of billions of dollars.
