DirecTV Turns Five Years Old And Celebrates Landmark Years
DirecTV, Inc., provider of the nationís leading digital television service, today celebrates its fifth anniversary of delivering movies, sports, news, music and family entertainment in digital quality picture and sound to consumers via a small satellite dish. First introduced five years ago today to residents of Jackson, Mississippi, DirecTV is now the nationís largest distributor of digital multichannel video services. With the completion of the acquisition of the PrimeStar medium-power business last April, DirecTV currently claims more than 7 million customers, including about 2 million consumers subscribing to PrimeStarís By DirecTV. ""We are enjoying record growth and have seen tremendous change ñ highlighted by the merger with United States Satellite Broadcasting and the acquisition of PrimeStarís medium-power business and high-power Tempo satellite assets ñ in the first five months of 1999,"" said Eddy W. Hartenstein, President of DirecTV. ""When we launched DirecTV five years ago we knew we had created an entertainment service that Americans would embrace. However, I donít think anyone anticipated the passion that DirecTV would instill in its customers - in fact, today one of every 14 television households in the United States receives programming from DirecTV."" DirecTVís strong growth rate continues. Through the first five months of 1999, net new customer growth in the high-power service is up 49 percent over the same period a year ago. DirecTV has several initiatives in place to deliver new services to consumers and further strengthen its position as the nationís premier multichannel video platform: - Local-into-local service - DirecTV plans to deliver local broadcast network channels to approximately 50 million homes, or about half of the nationís television households. The delivery of local channels by DirecTV is contingent upon the passage by Congress of pro-consumer legislation that will allow satellite companies to provide local-into-local service. - New interactive services - Through alliances with America Online, TiVo and Wink Communications, DirecTV will introduce a portfolio of new interactive and data enhanced television services, including data enhanced video, electronic commerce, Web casting, software downloads and Internet access. - Expanded satellite capacity - In a move that will expand Ku-band capacity and strengthen in-orbit redundancy, DirecTVís fourth satellite ñ DirecTV 1-R ñ is scheduled to be launched this summer. - Debut of Spanish-language services - DirecTV plans to launch this year a lineup of popular Spanish-language programming targeting Americaís Spanish-speaking population, an underserved and rapidly growing market. - HDTV programming - DirecTV is helping accelerate the advent of high-definition television (HDTV) with the introduction of HDTV sets integrated with the DirecTV System receivers and advanced digital set-top boxes. DirecTV plans to offer two channels of HDTV programming this year. ""As the television landscape continues to change, DirecTV will offer consumers the most advanced services available to enrich their television viewing experience,"" added Hartenstein.