pay-TV

Executives remain patient with it as they navigate through consumers’ shift away from pay-TV subscriptions, which provide a majority of the channel’s revenue.

DirecTV and Dish are in advanced talks to merge in a deal that would create the largest US pay-TV provider, with almost 20 million subscribers, people familiar with the matter said.

A merger of the two largest satellite-TV providers would come at a challenging time for the pay-TV industry, which has been losing customers.

The pay-TV industry, including cable and satellite, had 104 million US subscribers in 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.

Dish, meanwhile, has been seeking to transition from pay-TV to wireless services but has racked up significant debt to buy spectrum while the legacy business loses subscribers.