The question is, does a sale include AT&T TV, which is DirecTV but delivered via internet. If it does not, then a sale could not include a lot of the media contract rights to re-transmit because that would kill AT&T TV. Such a sale, I would think would not inlcude any of the digital rights DirecTV may have becasue I would think AT&T needs those, as well.
This lead me to believe--IMHO--that AT&T wants to sell the sat distribution system, not necessarily the valuable media contract agreements, and perhaps, not even all of the DirecTV customers.
Was not AT&T's original and even repeatedly stated goal to take the DirecTV business onto the internet and distribute it that way? What AT&T does not want are the sats and support systems for those sats, or the sat distribution system.
That would make a purchase of "DircTV" as a DBS distribution service pretty worthless to anyone except Dish, who already have programming agreements and could use DirecTV's sat slots and satellites as additional back-up or to eliminate any future need to launch but a few satellites, but would likely want remaining DirecTV customers becasue without that critical mass, it would be a valueless purchase for Dish.
Yes, the govt. would allow Dish to buy DirecTV, but only with conditions and protections for rural customers and because it is likely that the only possible buyer for a shrinking dying DBS business is Dish, and AT&T would move heaven and earth with influencde at the govt. to allow the sale to Dish.
IMHO, I think this report of an interested party (and they have to be a really STUPID interested party) is phoney and designed to pressure Charlie into buying now before it is too late, but that ain gonna work. Most of these investment ventures don't know how to run a business and often those businesses go dark after purchase in a matter of time (goodbye, Sears). A sale to any other party than Dish would erode the value of DirecTV after the new investment owners ruin it, and at that point, Dish may no longer want it if it were subsequenlty offered to them.