Credit ratings agency S&P Global notes the "linear TV industry is rapidly shrinking" and the increased scale provided by a merger may not offset subscriber declines.

The satellite TV giants are teaming up to make a pay TV operator with around 18 million subscribers in a deal for $1 and $9.75 billion in debt

DirecTV's agreement to buy the Dish satellite and streaming TV business from EchoStar is facing opposition from Dish creditors who would be forced to take a loss on the value of their debt. Dish creditors "plan to block a distressed exchange that's a key part of its tie-up with rival DirecTV,