Dish TV’s founder and CEO Charlie Egren is again making a pitch that his pay-TV business should merge with arch-rival DirecTV.

“There’s obviously a business case that [consolidation] makes a lot of sense in the satellite industry,” Ergen, the billionaire chairman and founder of Dish Network, told analysts on the company’s Q3 earnings call. “Whether it ever comes to fruition is another story. But both Dish and DirecTV realise that it could make a lot of sense.”

Ergen also explained that the anticipated monopoly and anti-trust challenges are not insurmountable. He cited a recent merger between America Airlines and US Airways as proof that government could solve such problems.

“We know our core business is a mature business,” Ergen said, recognising that new subscriber additions are flat. “It doesn’t have dramatic places it can go as a standalone current business.”

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