What's different now from 2002 when it got shot down the first time.
A few big things I can think of:
FiOS
UVerse
Netflix
Hulu
Large increase in broadband access to allow IPTV/Over the Top services to be real competition
Adelphia remains being purchased by TWC and Comcast (a de-facto consolidation)
NBC-Comcast merger allowed
Comcast-TWC merger proposed
Honestly, if 4k TV ever became ubiquitous, I see this merger being a necessity. Neither would have the needed bandwidth. But combine the 1.5 Ghz of DBS Ku bandwidth at 101, 110, and 119, plus 2 Ghz of Ka bandwidth at 99 and 103, not to mention the chunk of FSS bandwidth at 118.7 (plus whatever gets done with 61.5, 72.7, 77, and 129, together 2 Ghz of DBS Ku bandwidth), they would have all the bandwidth they need to offer nearly any service.