The newspaper reports that the companies have not discussed a formal proposal, but have had "general discussions" about the idea.
The two satcasters attempted to merge several years ago, but the FCC rejected the plan in 2002 on grounds that it would be anti-competitive.
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See Swanni's prediction from December 2007:
DIRECTV and Dish Network Will Merge
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However, in the years since, other video competition has emerged, including TV services from telco giants AT&T and Verizon and set-top Net TV services from Apple TV, Amazon, TiVo and Netflix.
WSJ reports that Dish CEO Ergen believes that federal regulators may be more receptive to a merger at this time, particularly after the agency just approved the satellite radio merger between XM and Sirius.
The two satcaster could not be reached for comment, Reuters reports.
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