Directv Company

A deal to sell satellite leader DirecTV to News Corp. may not happen so fast after all. A quick sale was expected in some quarters after EchoStar Communications Corp. paid $600 million to terminate a merger with DirecTV last month, in the face of federal antitrust opposition. But General Motors Corp., which owns DirecTV through its control of Hughes Electronics Corp., plans to take its time and review options besides a sale to News Corp.

DirecTV Group Inc., the largest U.S. satellite-television provider, posted third-quarter sales that beat analysts' estimates, helped by demand for its high-definition and digital-video-recording services. Revenue jumped 9.7% to $5.47 billion, the El Segundo company said. That beat the $5.4-billion average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The company gained 136,000 U.S. subscribers. More people bought and kept DirecTV's exclusive programming and premium products, such as the NFL Sunday Ticket, HD and DVR services.

In the week before the biggest TV-viewing day of the year, DirecTV launched an unprecedented electronic attack on an estimated 100,000 consumers who had been bootlegging its satellite TV service. The El Segundo-based company killed--via satellite--pirated pieces of hardware that had enabled viewers in the U.S. and abroad to see a broad range of programming, including premium channels and pay-per-view events that they had not paid for.

Versus plans to televise an NHL doubleheader Thursday. First up is Washington, with reigning player of the year Alexander Ovechkin, against Boston at 4 p.m. PDT. Next is San Jose and Colorado at 7, featuring a retirement ceremony for Colorado's Joe Sakic. But an estimated 18 million DirecTV subscribers won't be able to watch unless the contract dispute that caused the satellite provider to pull Versus off its menu Sept. 1 is resolved. Besides the NHL, the network televises college football, Indy Racing League auto racing, cycling and bull riding.

Seventeen people across the country have been charged with developing and distributing technology used to pirate signals from DirecTV and Dish Network, the nation's largest satellite television systems, federal law enforcement officials said Tuesday in Los Angeles. The yearlong FBI investigation targeted high-level computer hackers who have been costing the satellite TV companies and the motion picture industry millions of dollars a year in lost revenues, said U.S. Atty. Debra W. Yang.

Telecommunications giant AT&T Inc. said Friday that it had agreed to market and sell DirecTV's service beginning early next year, a move that could give the nation's largest satellite provider a considerable leg up over its struggling rival, Dish Network. Under the agreement, AT&T will begin offering DirecTV as part of its Advanced TV service after Jan. 31, when AT&T's current agreement with Dish Network expires.

Video retailer Blockbuster Inc. and satellite television provider DirecTV unveiled a movie plan for DirecTV viewers, continuing Blockbuster's expansion into new markets using its brand name. Under the pact, the satellite TV system will begin offering as many as 44 movies a day in a pay-per-view block of programming called Blockbuster Ticket only on DirecTV. The new service comes in addition to DirecTV's current pay-per-view movies.

Grupo Televisa, the world's largest Spanish-language broadcaster, said Tuesday that it was seeking to acquire DirecTV Group Inc.'s subscribers in Mexico to become the country's only provider for satellite television service. "We would like to buy DirecTV's subscribers in Mexico but not the whole company," said Alfonso de Angoitia, Televisa's executive vice president, during a second-quarter conference call. "Hopefully, that will be during 2004, but I cannot comment on specific negotiations."

The family that helped launch satellite television provider DirecTV said Tuesday that it had teamed with a group of investors, including movie moguls Harvey and Bob Weinstein, to buy Ovation, a tiny cable channel devoted to the arts. Despite an already cluttered media landscape, the deal shows that investors remain interested in very specialized television channels.

General Motors Corp. on Monday divested Hughes Electronics Corp. through a spinoff and sale of Hughes stock to News Corp. for $3.1 billion in cash, plus News Corp. preferred shares, giving Rupert Murdoch control of the biggest U.S. satellite TV service. GM distributed one share of Hughes common stock for each share of GM Class H common stock, Detroit-based GM said in a statement. GM also sold its 19.8% stake in Hughes to Murdoch's Sydney, Australia-based News Corp.

Call it Goliath Versus Goliath. Cable giant Comcast Corp. is locked in an ugly battle with satellite broadcaster DirecTV over the sports channel Versus. Unable to strike a new deal with Comcast, DirecTV on Tuesday dropped carriage of Versus to its 14 million subscribers. Such disputes are usually resolved behind the scenes, but not in this case. After removing Versus from its lineup, DirecTV slapped a notice on the channel the network had occupied, announcing: "Comcast, which owns Versus, has forced us to take down the channel because we will not submit to their unfair and outrageous demands."

Versus, which carries sports programming as varied as the Tour de France, college football, IRL auto racing and the majority of regular-season national NHL games, went dark on DirecTV after not reaching a new contract deal Monday. At 9:01 p.m. PDT, the Versus channel on DirecTV went to a blue screen with the message, "Versus is no longer available on this channel. Comcast, which owns Versus, has forced us to take down the channel because we will not submit to their unfair and outrageous demands."

DirecTV Group Inc., the nation's largest satellite TV operator, reported an 11% drop in second-quarter profit Thursday as higher customer- acquisition costs offset revenue growth. The El Segundo company said that customers were cutting back on premium channels and pay-per-view programming. But DirecTV added 224,000 net subscribers in the quarter, 74% more than the same period last year, at a time when cable operators are losing basic video customers. It was DirecTV's first full quarter of partnership with AT&T Inc. to cross-sell each other's services, which boosted customer rolls.

In a move aimed at getting more control, satellite broadcaster DirecTV Group is merging with Liberty Entertainment, a programming arm of media mogul John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. The all-stock deal will put a handful of cable networks under DirecTV and give Malone a 24% voting stake in the company. The deal will make it easier for DirecTV to "pursue strategic initiatives," said Chase Carey, president and chief executive of the satellite programmer, which has 17.

Federal government to DirecTV and Comcast cable: What part of Do Not Call didn't you understand? Satellite television provider DirecTV Inc. agreed to pay $2.31 million to settle charges that it made more than 1 million calls to its customers who had -- as was their right -- placed themselves on a Do Not Call list, the Federal Trade Commission said Thursday. And why did the company make the calls? To ask the customers to remove themselves from the list, the agency said.

The nation's only -- and ailing -- satellite radio company is drawing interest from two moguls of space-based entertainment. Sirius XM Radio Inc. said Friday that it might be forced to file for bankruptcy as early as Tuesday if it fails to restructure its debt. As the deadline nears, speculation is growing of a possible bidding war over the company, which was formed last summer by the merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio.

With DirecTV's pact Friday to buy PrimeStar, the satellite television industry is on the verge of shrinking to only two players from five just three months ago. Federal regulators have largely driven the consolidation, aiming to strengthen the satellite industry as a challenger to the long-standing monopoly of cable operators. But some consumer advocates and analysts question whether consumers will benefit.

Federal government to DirecTV and Comcast cable: What part of Do Not Call didn't you understand? Satellite television provider DirecTV Inc. agreed to pay $2.31 million to settle charges that it made more than 1 million calls to its customers who had -- as was their right -- placed themselves on a Do Not Call list, the Federal Trade Commission said Thursday. And why did the company make the calls? To ask the customers to remove themselves from the list, the agency said.

DirecTV Group Inc., the nation's largest satellite-TV provider, on Tuesday reported a 5% decline in net income for the fourth quarter, even as revenue soared, because of higher customer acquisition costs and interest expenses. DirecTV earned $332 million, or 32 cents a share, a penny shy of the average forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Last year the company earned $348 million, or 30 cents. Revenue rose 9% to $5.31 billion.