US satellite provider DirecTV admitted on Wednesday that it would still like to acquire rival provider Dish Network, but acknowledged that regulatory hurdles would likely make such a move impossible.

Calling such a merger "desirable but not feasible," DirecTV's chief financial officer Mike Palkovic told Reuters that "the regulatory issues haven't gone away."

A DirecTV-Dish tie-up was attempted in 2002 but fell apart due to opposition from America's Federal Communications Commission on competition grounds.