According to a joint statement, the acquisition, if approved by regulators, includes the purchase of Dish TV and Sling TV from owner EchoStar in exchange for DirecTV assuming $9.75 billion in Dish debt.

The rival companies attempted a similar $18.5 billion deal in 2002, but were shot down by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over monopoly and antitrust concerns.

Cited “cutting the cord” challenges.

“DIRECTV operates in a highly competitive video distribution industry,” Chief Executive Officer Bill Morrow said in a statement. “We expect that as DIRECTV and DISH grow in scale, they will be better able to work with programmers to achieve our vision for the future of television, which is to aggregate, curate and distribute content that are tailored to the interests of customers…”