NewsCorp is the other suitor, unless one of these newcomers is a sleeper.
I find it hard to believe that new interests are getting involved in the basic DTH market. Standard Def locals are the bane of DTH satellite TV. Maybe the move to D(igital)TV will force the locals off satellite again. Since it's digital, couldn't the signal be delivered via a fat (wired) pipe like DSL? I think one of the Canadian providers has considered a combo satellte/DSL box. That would fit well with DirecTV's DSL unit here in the states. I even bought my first PVR, a first-gen ReplayTV, because it could handle multiple sources out of the box. (I had both DirecTV and Comcast cable due to the Comcast Sportsnet screwjob.) But it did the job of getting me both my local TV and all the best of satellite via one device.
Locals on satellite just chew up precious hardware (in space) and bandwidth, largely repeating the same programming over and over again. The PVR has got to fit in here somewhere to solve the problem. Just pre download separate advertising by market, then broadcast the same programs nationwide to PVRs and insert separate local ads as needed. Easier said then done, but there's currently a ton of money floating 22K miles up that can 'see' the whole country but only 'talks' to a small part of it. Seems to be a big waste to me.
How could any newcomer possibly see vast profit in repeating the same-same. In this market, the market shapes the business model. The market wanted locals, we got locals.