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EchoStar (SATS +4%) is over the moon today as shares reach fresh 52-week highs following a Bloomberg report that AT&T (T) and its joint-venture partner TPG (TPG) are discussing a combination between DirecTV and DISH Network. SATS is the holding company that owns DISH Network and its various assets, including Boost Mobile, Sling TV, and HughesNet, following the merger between the two firms late last year. AT&T completed its acquisition of DirecTV almost a decade ago for over $67.0 bln.

Thus far, no company spokesperson has confirmed the rumors. If the deal were to go through, it would form a titan in the pay-TV industry. Last year, DirecTV had an estimated 11 mln subscribers, while DISH commanded around 6 mln at the end of its most recent quarter.

• The combined subscriber count is significant but well below where it was during each company's peak. For perspective, DirecTV shed an estimated 2 mln subs just this past year. In FY13, the year before AT&T opened up its wallet to purchase DirecTV, it boasted over 20 mln subscribers. Over 14 mln customers were subscribed to DISH's pay-TV service that same year.
• A potential merger between the two satellite TV giants has been in the news before. In 2002, regulators blocked a merger, citing antitrust concerns as the combined company would have controlled a considerable chunk of the overall pay-TV market.
• However, today, the environment has changed drastically. The rise of streaming has accelerated cord-cutting, slowly decaying subscriber counts. Consumers constantly turn to streaming services, like YouTube TV (GOOG) and FuboTV (FUBO). In fact, SATS's own Sling streaming service added subs in Q2, acquiring 78,000 new users to reach around 2 mln total subscribers. Sling is also profitable, a milestone yet to be reached by FUBO, among other streaming companies.
• With AT&T already forming a joint venture with TPG in 2021, moving DirecTV to the JV, and taking a $15.5 bln impairment charge as it wrote down the asset's value, it may be craving a merger. Similarly, SATS has been betting heavily on wireless, its Boost Mobile brand, pouring tens of billions into building the infrastructure over the past decade and may want to hunker down on wireless.

Against the current TV landscape, where Netflix (NFLX) and Hulu (DIS) continue peeling eyes away from traditional pay-TV while other streaming companies like FUBO and GOOG offer competitive live TV packages, a merger between DirecTV and DISH Network becomes more likely. Antitrust concerns were hurdles the two satellite TV companies endured in the past. However, as both shed subscribers year after year, less red tape stands in their way. With both SATS and AT&T shares climbing to one-year highs today, investors are growing confident that the two companies can finally pull off a merger this time if reports turn out to be true.