This Week in Streaming: DIRECTV and Dish Announce Merger; Watch The MLB Playoffs and ‘The Franchise’ This Weekend
A lot has changed in the TV landscape over the past 20 years, but this week, a failed merger attempt has finally come to fruition and may change the pay-TV industry as we know it. Wrap up your week by catching up on all of the latest details of the DIRECTV and DISH merger.
Plus, we’ve got your weekend streaming recommendations, from October baseball to a brand-new satirical comedy!
This Week in Streaming:
This Week’s Top Story: DIRECTV and DISH Announce Merger
It’s been a long time coming, but following 20 years’ worth of ado, DIRECTV and DISH finally made it officially this week.
After weeks of industry speculation, DIRECTV announced on Monday it has entered a definitive agreement with DISH, purchasing the other satellite provider and its live TV streaming service Sling TV from parent company EchoStar. Once the deal is finalized, DIRECTV’s 11 million satellite and streaming customers will join DISH and Sling’s combined 8 million, creating the largest pay-TV provider in the country.
The tentative merger comes 22 years after the two providers previously attempted to join forces but were sued and blocked by the Department of Justice on antitrust grounds. With the multitude of ways the pay-TV industry has changed over the past decades, it’s believed it won’t hit any regulatory roadblocks this time.
With the merger and the larger customer base that comes with it, DIRECTV is hoping to have better negotiating power to create more flexible subscription options for its customers. The TV provider spent the first couple of weeks of September locked in a carriage dispute with Disney that blacked out millions of customers from watching major live events, including the U.S. Open, which DIRECTV is obviously hoping to avoid in the future. If the super-sized provider is able to achieve some similar large-scale successes, it could have significant positive impacts on its customers and the industry as a whole.
Catch up our stories related to the DIRECTV/Dish Merger:
- DIRECTV to Purchase DISH, Creating Largest Pay-TV Provider in US
- Why Does DIRECTV and DISH Merger Matter to Consumers?
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What to Continue This Weekend: The 2024 MLB Playoffs
It’s the most wonderful (and stress-inducing) time of the year! The 2024 MLB Postseason officially got underway this past Tuesday, Oct. 1, with eight Wild Card-clinching teams battling it out for the final American and National League spots in the Division Series. After Pete Alonso’s storybook Thursday night—a page-burning dropped foul ball to a page-turning go-ahead home run—the New York Mets earned the final National League Postseason spot as they bested the Colorado Rockies two games to one, joining the San Diego Padres, who beat the Atlanta Braves in two games.
Now, this Saturday, Oct. 5, the remaining teams continue their roads to the World Series as all four games of the Division Series begin. First pitch of the ALDS Game 1 is scheduled for 1:08 p.m. ET with the Detroit Tigers facing off against the Cleveland Guardians from Cleveland on TBS. That matchup will be followed by NLDS Game 1 with the Mets at the Philadelphia Phillies; the next ALDS matchup, featuring the Kansas City Royals in the Bronx against Aaron Judge’s AL East Champion New York Yankees; and the final NLDS matchup, the Padres against the Shohei Ohtani-wielding Los Angeles Dodgers to close out the night.
Beyond this weekend, be sure to bookmark the complete schedule for the 2024 MLB Postseason. To catch all the action, we recommend a subscription to Hulu + Live TV, which carries all the networks you need for coverage of this year’s Playoffs, including MLB Network and bonus coverage on ESPN+.
How to Watch the 2024 MLB Division Series
When: Starting Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024
TV: FOX, TBS, FS1
Stream: Watch with a subscription to Hulu + Live TV.
What to Stream This Weekend: HBO’s “The Franchise”
Every failure has a story, and sometimes that failure ends up becoming a whole franchise. For those among us missing “Veep,” creator Armando Iannucci is reuniting with HBO as the executive producer on one of the fall season’s most anticipated series.
The new satirical comedy “The Franchise,” created by Jon Brown with Iannucci and Oscar (and nearly every other award) winner Sam Mendes as EPs, shows how the sausage gets made (kind of) and goes behind the scenes of big-budget superhero movies, following a misbegotten franchise’s crew as they try and survive the business (literally).
Watch the trailer for “The Franchise” below:
The series cast is full of familiar funny folks from both sides of the pond (Himesh Patel, Jessica Hynes, Billy Magnussen, Lolly Adefope, Richard E. Grant, Daniel Brühl, and more). Plus, it’s nice to see Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns both HBO/Max and DC Comics, not take itself too seriously on the subject of franchise faux pas.
The first episode will premiere this Sunday, Oct. 6 at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. New episodes will be available every Sunday.
The Franchise
The crew of an unloved franchise movie fight for their place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe. The series shines a light on the secret chaos inside the world of superhero moviemaking, to ask the question — how exactly does the cinematic sausage get made? Because every f*ck-up has an origin story.