E* is probably the worst-positioned company in the communications business. They do satellite TV and that's about it. D* at least has a large and interesting parent company.
Big business is all about generating new streams of revenue. The phone companies are looking at a potentially vast base of TV subscribers. The cable companies are even better off at the moment -- they're moving into the phone business faster, and at considerably less cost, than the phone companies are moving into the TV business.
In addition, Big Cable is either heavily in the programming end of things (Time Warner) or making large investments in that direction (Comcast).
Echostar's future is as a reasonably profitable division of a company that can exploit what satellite does well without being dependent on it, or as a privately-held company that doesn't have to satisfy investors' needs for growth, growth and more growth.
(edited for a grammatical error)