DIRECTV Successfully Launches Spot Beam Satellite

28-Nov-01

DIRECTV 4S, a powerful new spot beam satellite that will enable DIRECTVÆ to provide hundreds of additional local channels to television households across the country, was launched successfully from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. The spacecraft will enable DIRECTV to add more than 300 local channels to its existing local channel programming in 41 markets and meet the federal ?must carry? requirement of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act by its effective date of January 1, 2002. Boeing Space and Communications, a business of The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), built the satellite. ""This is another significant milestone in the seven-year history of DIRECTV and we applaud the joint efforts of the Arianespace and Boeing teams to ensure the smooth and successful launch of this powerful new satellite,"" said Roxanne Austin, President and COO, DIRECTV, Inc. ""Upon its successful deployment at 101 degrees West Longitude (WL), we can swiftly begin to expand our offering of local channel programming to viewers in 41 markets, representing more than 61 percent of all television households in the United States."" DIRECTV expects to begin offering services from DIRECTV 4S by the end of December. For more information about DIRECTV, visit www.directv.com.

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