Thomson To Enable New Local-Into-Local Programming From DirecTV With New Line Of Satellite Receivers
RCA DirecTV System With Local Stations Planned For Fourth Quarter 1999 Delivery Responding to the recent announcement by DirecTV President Eddy Hartenstein that the nationís most popular satellite TV service plans to offer local TV programs via satellite, Thomson Consumer Electronics announced plans to manufacture and market a new line of compatible receivers that are expected to be available by the end of the year. The local-into-local satellite option must first be approved by Congress, which is now considering comprehensive satellite legislation that would permit satellite broadcasters to carry local market stations. The service also requires FCC approval. More than six million RCA DirecTV System receivers have been shipped to retailers since the popular product was first introduced in June 1994. Thomson is the nationís largest manufacturer and marketer of home entertainment products, with the RCA, GE, and ProScan brands. ""The RCA DirecTV System is already the most popular consumer electronics product ever introduced. Now, with the added availability of local programs, we expect even more consumers to take advantage of digital programming through a small satellite dish and receiver,"" said Jim Meyer, Chief Operating Officer of Thomson Consumer Electronics. As soon as new legislation is approved and DirecTV begins offering local programming, current subscribers in New York and Los Angeles will be able to receive their local stations. Consumers in other markets to be served by the new DirecTV service will be able to receive local programming via a new RCA DirecTV System receiver and single, small dish. In addition to a new receiver, consumers outside of the New York and Los Angeles markets who wish to subscribe to the local channel service will need to install a single, compact 18-inch high by 24-inch wide satellite dish that will pick up both the current DirecTV service and the new local programming ""Beginning immediately, engineers from Thomsonís Technical Center will start working on the necessary software and hardware upgrades that will make this new service a reality. We will modify our existing fourth-generation satellite products to receive the new signals,"" Meyer said. For more information, contact Dave Arland at Arland@tce.com or James Harper at HarperJ@tce.com.