Here is how the capital markets work.
There are essentially two ways to fund and own large businesses. One is the stock market. The problem with the stock market is that self-appointed empty suit "analysists" decide that this or that is "trending". These are the types of people who tell you that we will have flying cars and food replecators "in a few years". Mostly worthless. A few years ago, they decided that "content will be king" and poured love on T for its acquisitions. Of course, it has not worked out that way. Now this crew has decided that linear TV is dying and that especially satellite TV will soon die out. Of course, linear remains the primary way consumers consume TV, and DirecTV remains huge and profitable. But people listen to these guys and it pushes the stock down. So T is spinning off these assets, but wisely holding on to huge chunks of both, because both will be very important for decades to come.
The other is private capital, where you can sell a good idea without worrying about what some 30 something MBA thinks. I would love to see DirecTV in private equity hands, or as a stand-alone stock. I would buy all I could, as linear TV will be the majority deal for many years to come, and DirecTV the luxury version thereof.
As to this merger, the weak partner in this is, of course, Discovery. T brings good long term contracts with NCAA, MLB, NBA, and now the NHL. Discovery brings 17 English channels, all of which are pretty much variations and remixes of one another, mostly containing time waste material you can find on the educational side of YouTube.