A tie-up meant to help struggling satellite-TV companies is falling apart after creditors balked at a proposal to cut into their holdings.

DirecTV is calling off its planned acquisition of rival Dish after the offer was rejected by bond holders at that company. The deal was reliant on Dish bond holders agreeing to trade in the debt they held for debt in the new company,

The deal, which would have created one of the largest pay-TV providers in the United States, fell apart after strong objections from Dish’s lenders.