Dish’s “Seinfeld” strategy appears to have ended similarly to the actual series – with the finale being a widely accepted disappointment.

In 2011, Dish co-founder Charlie Ergen mentioned “Seinfeld” for the first time on an earnings call while responding to an analyst’s question about his company’s diverse assets. Ergen noted that a half-hour episode of the 1990s sitcom typically began with multiple storylines with no clear direction: “But in the last few minutes everything seemed to come together,” he said. “And so I think in terms of the strategic direction that we’re going in, you just have to wait and see where it all fits together.”

On Monday, the conclusion was announced assuming regulatory approval.

EchoStarDish’s parent company, sold the pay-TV provider to DirecTV for a nominal price of $1 and associated debt of $9.75 billion. Shares of EchoStar fell more than 10%.

In recent years, Dish tried but failed to switch to a national wireless carrier, while millions of pay-TV subscribers canceled streaming services and operators that offer high-speed broadband, such as Comcast And Charter.

Dish and DirecTV have lost a combined 63% of their video subscribers since 2016.

“Times have changed,” EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan said in a CNBC interview on Monday. “The content distribution industry is in decline and losing customers at a rapid pace.”

The company’s enterprise value has again fallen sharply.

When Dish and DirecTV discussed a merger in 2014, DirecTV’s market cap was about $40 billion and Dish’s market valuation was more than $28 billion.

DirecTV was sold to AT&T a year later for an equity value of $49 billion. Dish remained independent and lost almost all of its value as its business shrank and satellite television became increasingly anachronistic.

EchoStar and Dish merged again earlier this year after splitting in 2008. EchoStar was motivated to shed Dish and its debt with a $2 billion debt repayment due in November, CNBC reported last week.

When Ergen talked about Dish and its future development, he would sometimes reach out and extend his fingers, using them as metaphors for different paths forward. For years he tried to combine Dish’s pay-TV business with a wireless service, buying up spectrum at auctions and petitioning regulators for permission to use it.

In 2019, Dish finally acquired Boost Mobile as a divestment from T-Mobile for $1.4 billion. Still, without a partner, it was difficult for Dish to find the capital to both operate its pay-TV business and build a nationwide network to compete with AT&T, Verizon And T Mobile – especially as satellite TV revenues decline every year and millions of subscribers are lost.

“We couldn’t properly serve the mobile business,” Akhavan said on Monday. “The company’s multi-directional focus was also a distraction for management.”

The actual series finale of “Seinfeld” was significantly delayed compared to the show’s best episodes. It’s hard not to view this journey for Dish as a similar disappointment.

WATCH: EchoStar CEO’s Exclusive CNBC Interview on Dish and DirecTV Collaboration