Satellite Television

DirecTV Group Inc., the biggest U.S. satellite television provider, on Wednesday became the latest to say it would offer a package of channels aimed at weeding out programming that might be inappropriate for children. The biggest cable companies, including Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc., have announced packages designed to please families, lawmakers and regulators who are worried about sexual and profane material on television.

DirecTV Group Inc., the nation's largest satellite TV provider, returned to a fourth-quarter profit as modest subscriber growth helped lift revenue. The company, based in El Segundo, also said that it continued efforts to offer high-speed Internet service to customers, including the possibility of working with rival satellite provider EchoStar Communications Inc. on a wireless broadband offering. DirecTV, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., reported net income of $121.

A rocket carrying a 9,500-pound TV satellite successfully lifted off from a floating launch pad in the equatorial Pacific, the first of six rockets Long Beach-based Sea Launch Corp. expects to launch this year. The unusual rocket venture, owned by Boeing Co. and a consortium of Russian, Ukrainian and Norwegian companies, expects to have its busiest year after suffering from a downturn in rocket demand in the last decade. The satellite for EchoStar Communications Corp.

EarthLink Inc. said Monday that it would offer DirecTV satellite television service in a bundled option in select markets across the United States. The Atlanta-based Internet service provider said the offer would begin by the end of the first quarter. It did not say in which markets the option would be available or offer any pricing details. Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp., the dominant local telephone provider in nine southeastern states, also has a partnership with DirecTV Inc.

Advertising is the lifeblood of TV networks. But for the 40 or so channels that are reserved for nonprofit programmers on the nation's satellite television services, commercials are a no-no. At least they're supposed to be. Under an 8-year-old rule that Congress designed to increase educational fare on satellite, DirecTV and rival Dish Network, owned by EchoStar Communications Corp.

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said U.S. regulators would find it difficult to reject a merger of his DirecTV Group Inc. and rival satellite television provider EchoStar Communications Corp. The union of two of the largest U.S. satellite operators would pose less of a threat to competition than in the past because consumers have more ways to get news and entertainment, Murdoch said on "The Charlie Rose Show" Thursday.

A financial struggle is looming between Fox News Channel and the cable and satellite providers who carry the network, with the risk of Bill O'Reilly, Shepard Smith and Sean Hannity being yanked from TV screens if talks go sour. With Fox's 10th anniversary next week, a series of 10-year contracts with providers will begin expiring. Fox says the systems pay roughly 25 cents per subscriber each month to carry its programming.

Liberty Media Corp. confirmed Thursday that it might swap its stake in News Corp. for a controlling interest in DirecTV Group Inc., a move that would thrust cable pioneer John Malone into the satellite television arena. Malone, Liberty Media's chairman, has been in discussions with News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch over making a swap for Liberty Media's approximately 20% stake in News Corp. since Malone quietly snapped up shares in 2004.

Dan Rather has gone digital. He is returning to television tonight with "Dan Rather Reports," his new weekly magazine available in just the 4 million satellite and cable homes reached by media mogul Mark Cuban's high-definition channel HDNet. By contrast, "CBS Evening News," which Rather anchored for 24 years, reaches virtually all the nation's 111 million TV homes.

In the long-running battle between cable television and satellite, the cable TV industry is quietly trying to persuade the Legislature to levy a tax on its competitors. With just six days left in the legislative session, cable advocates in Sacramento want lawmakers to slap a new 5% tax on satellite service to match the 5% franchise fee that cable companies pay to string or bury their wires across public property and into homes. Cable companies argue that it's matter of fairness.