DirecTV has confirmed it will purchase its rival, Dish Network, for just $1, in addition to taking on its debt, according to a statement made on Monday.

If regulators give their approval, the merger will involve DirecTV buying Dish TV and Sling TV, and will assume $9.75 billion in Dish’s debt, based on a joint announcement.

The two companies had previously sought a similar deal worth $18.5 billion in 2002, but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) blocked it due to concerns about monopoly and antitrust issues.

Issues with ‘cord cutting’ highlighted

“DIRECTV competes in a challenging video distribution market,” noted Chief Executive Officer Bill Morrow. “We believe that a larger combined entity of DIRECTV and DISH will enable us to better collaborate with content creators, with a focus on our vision for the future of television—which emphasizes the aggregation, curation, and distribution of content that meets the preferences of our viewers”

In their announcement, DirecTV and Dish recognized that the trend of “cutting the cord” is one of the significant hurdles facing pay-TV providers in this streaming-driven landscape. They pointed out that streaming platforms now boast a number of subscriptions that surpass those of traditional pay-TV, reporting a combined loss of 63% in satellite customers since 2016.

Moreover, AT&T also declared on Monday that it is selling its 70% stake in DirecTV to the private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) for $7.6 billion.