DIRECTV: 16.3 Million Subs

[Brewer4]

DIRECTV: 16.3 Million Subs

News
DIRECTV: 16.3 Million Subs
The satcaster credits HD for latest sub increase.
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (August 9, 2007) -- DIRECTV today said it added 128,000 subscribers in the second quarter, bringing its overall total to 16.32 million.

In its second quarter financial report released today, the satcaster credited increased sales of High-Definition and Digital Video Recording services for the sub increase.

DIRECTV reported 900,000 gross subscriber additions in the second quarter and an average monthly churn of 1.58 percent.

The satcaster said overall subs have risen five percent since the close of the 2006 second quarter.

DIRECTV also reported that its net income fell slightly in the second quarter ($459 million to $448 million) due to higher costs to attract and maintain premium subscribers, such as HD and DVR customers.

But DIRECTV CEO Chase Carey, who just signed a three-year contract extension with the company, said HD and DVR subscribers are more likely to have higher monthly bills, which he said bodes well for the company's upcoming HD expansion.

"In light of the rapidly growing demand for advanced services in the United States, it is particularly exciting to look ahead a couple of months when we leapfrog the competition by offering up to 100 national HD channels," Carey said. "We believe our HD line-up will provide DIRECTV U.S. with a significant competitive advantage in the rapidly growing market for HD television. Consumers are passionate about HD and DIRECTV will be the clear choice for anyone looking for the best HD television experience."

 

[Brewer4]

DirecTV - Investor Relations - News Release

DIRECTV Announces New Employment Agreement With Chase Carey

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 9, 2007--The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (NYSE: DTV) announced today that Chase Carey, the company's president and CEO, has agreed to a new three-year employment contract. The agreement is effective today and continues through Dec. 31, 2010.

"The past three years have been an amazing time of change and growth for both me and the company," said Carey. "I consider myself fortunate to work with such a strong group of employees, who are among the sharpest and most tenacious in the business, as well as our board of directors, who have provided great support and guidance. I'm proud of our accomplishments and also realize there's still much hard work to be done. I look forward to the excitement, challenge and fulfillment that will come over the next few years."

"I've had the pleasure of working with Chase for almost 20 years and admire and respect him, both as a business leader and personally," said Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corporation. "He has demonstrated superb leadership and sharp business acumen in a wide variety of businesses throughout his career and has contributed significantly to both DIRECTV and News Corporation."

"We are pleased that DIRECTV will continue to benefit from Chase's strong leadership," said John Malone, chairman, Liberty Media Corporation. "Since joining DIRECTV in 2003, Chase has overseen the growth of the company in an increasingly challenging environment and enabled it to build on its leadership position in the business. I look forward to working with Chase as we take DIRECTV to new heights for both its customers and shareholders."

Carey joined DIRECTV (formerly Hughes Electronics Corporation) as its president and CEO in December 2003 from News Corporation. Under Carey's leadership, DIRECTV successfully restructured its business to focus on its digital television services in the United States and Latin America. Consolidated revenues from these operations have grown from approximately $8.2 billion in 2003 to approximately $14.7 billion in 2006, owned and operated subscribers have increased during that period by more than 5 million in the US and 1.5 million in Latin America, the company has gone from a net loss of about $1.95 billion in 2004, to net income of more than $1.4 billion in 2006, and its market capitalization has increased by more than 50% to about $26 billion.

DirecTV - Investor Relations - Investor Relation Home

 

[Brewer4]

The DIRECTV Group Announces Second Quarter 2007 Results

DIRECTV Group Revenues Increase 17% to over $4.1 Billion

* DIRECTV U.S. Revenues Increase 12% to $3.7 Billion Fueled by Average Monthly Revenue Per Subscriber (ARPU) Growth of 6.8% to $76.43
* DIRECTV Latin America Revenues More Than Double to $409 Million

DIRECTV Group Operating Profit Before Depreciation and Amortization Increases 16% to over $1.1 Billion

* DIRECTV U.S. Generates 9% Growth to $1.1 Billion
* DIRECTV Latin America up Threefold to $95 Million

Strong Demand Drives Subscriber Growth and Lower Churn

* DIRECTV U.S. Adds 128,000 Net Subscribers Driven by Higher Gross Additions of 900,000 and Lower Monthly Churn of 1.58%
* DIRECTV Latin America Attains Strong Net Subscriber Additions of 141,000 Propelled by Higher Gross Additions of 260,000 and Lower Monthly Churn of 1.38%

Board of Directors Authorizes Share Repurchase of up to $1.0 Billion

* Prior $1 Billion Share Repurchase Program Completed in Early August 2007

The rest see below.......

DirecTV - Investor Relations - News Release

 

[bonscott87]

What's funny is on the Tivo forum they keep insisting that there aren't that many HR20's out there because the whole 250K number of HR10 users are "holding out". HR20's in the field are probably double or triple by now what the HR10 was at it's height.

Good comedy over there if you want a good laugh and are bored.

 

[dfergie]

Sorry for double posting the Carey announcement just saw this Brewer4...

 

[mdonnelly]

Spin from the WSJ: DirecTV's Net Falls On Surge in Expenses

Free Article - WSJ.com

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

DirecTV is going to have more expensives as they are going through a major upgrade / expansion. In addition I see a lot of low cost or free upgrades coming for consumers so that they can take advantage of all the new services coming to DirecTV.

 

[TheForce]

I remain a D* subscriber with a HD TIVO. To date I have received no DirecTV marketing to do any upgrades at all. I would say their advertising is way ahead of their marketing . I own the HD Tivo and it has been greatly modified to include 5 external hard drives with mostly archival HD content. I doub't they'd want my Tivo in exchange if that will be there thinking. If they take it they would discover it has no internal hard drive. DirecTV advertising is on par with Enron Hype. Show me the list of 100 National HD channels and my subscription costs to get them and then I will consider the upgrade. Oh one more thing, show me the HD quality too.

 

[bonscott87]

Well keep in mind they aren't going to market anything "official" until, as you say, there is actually something up there. They need to make sure the sat is launched (check), functional (check), tested (upcoming) and then light up the channels.

I'd expect some official marketing to start happening early to mid Sept once they have some solid dates.