Dish and T-Mobile are discussing a potential merger

Dish Network Corp. is in talks to merge with T-Mobile US Inc., people familiar with the matter said, a deal that would accelerate a wave of consolidation across the U.S. media and communications industries. The two sides are in close agreement about what the combined company would look like, with Dish Chief Executive Charlie Ergen becoming the company’s chairman and his T-Mobile counterpart, John Legere, serving as the combined company’s CEO, the people said. Tougher questions about a purchase price and the mix of cash and stock that would be used to pay for a deal remain unresolved, the people said. One of the people characterized the talks as at “the formative stage,” and said an agreement might not ultimately be hammered out. If completed, the deal would be the latest multibillion-dollar combination in traditional television and communications industries being upended by the Internet. T-Mobile rival AT&T Inc. is close to wrapping up its $49 billion deal for Dish rival DirecTV that will create the country’s largest pay-TV company. Meanwhile, Charter Communications Inc. recently announced a total of $67 billion in deals that would roll up Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks to create the second-largest U.S. cable operator.