In what could bring cheer to many Airtel users the Tata and Bharti groups are reportedly nearing the finalisation of a merger between their direct-to-home (DTH) businesses Tata Play and Airtel Digital TV. This merger comes as audiences are gradually moving away from DTH to digital platforms. As per the report Airtel will hold more than 50 per cent in the combined entity. Airtel is expected to hold 52-55 per cent of the combined entity while Tata Play shareholders including Walt Disney will hold 45-48 per cent. Airtel’s senior management is expected to run the entity while Tata is expected to keep two seats on the board the report added. According to a report in The Economic Times the merger will take place through a share swap which will increase Airtel’s non-mobile revenues. Both sides are expected to announce the terms of agreement soon. The due diligence will commence after that. Both the operations are reportedly being valued at around Rs 6000-7000 crore. The two entities had a total 35 million paid subscribers as of September 2024 and the FY24 revenues exceeded Rs 7000 crore. With the deal Airtel will get access to Tata Play’s 19 million homes. The deal would be the second major transaction in the DTH sector in about a decade following the Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger in 2016.