WELL ACTUALLY,
ATT offers BOTH Dish and Directv in different parts of the country. They offer Dish in much more of the country and inherited the D* deal when they made an acquisition last year.
ATT said there were going to standardize on ONE partner going forward and announce who it was going to be in December 2007. Most analysts expect that to be Dish because Dish has a longer term relationship with SBC/ATT.
As to whether ATT would buy D* instead of Dish Network (not all of E*), most analysts thing it would be easier for ATT to come to terms with Charlie than with John Malone.
And you can look at the FCC application for license split as a Virtual FOR SALE sign on Dish Network.
The problem is more likely tax implications. If E* is split into two pieces BEFORE ATT buys Dish, Charlie pays less taxes. A lot less. But that would require waiting a long time.
At this point, who is to say what's going on?