DirecTV in the News

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DirecTV will add FX to its basic Total Choice lineup at no additional cost under a deal the satellite provider reached with the Fox-backed network.

The network debuts on DirecTV Aug. 17.

FX will become available to more than 5.3 million households subscribing to DirecTV's high-power service. FX is currently available in 40 million households. The network shows series and films, Major League Baseball and boxing events.

Puerto Rico To Get DirecTV

Galaxy Latin America will launch its DirecTV service in Puerto Rico, giving the company another prime territory for its regional DTH service.

Galaxy Chairman Kevin McGrath and Cisneros Group President Gustavo Gisneros will attend a launch party next week in Puerto Rico.

The Latin American DirecTV service is available in more than 25 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela. Various Caribbean island nations also get DirecTV from Galaxy.

The Sky Vista platform from Loral and EchoStar provides service to the Caribbean region, including Puerto Rico. The island's first taste of satellite TV came with the Alphastar service launched in 1997. Alphastar went dark, however, after falling into bankruptcy problems.

DirecTV To Launch HBO HDTV

DirecTV will offer its first high-definition consumer offering on a national basis beginning Aug. 1 with Home Box Office's high-definition channel.

The channel, the first continuous high-definition broadcast available to consumers on a national basis, features blockbuster Hollywood films and original movies from HBO in high- definition format. It will air on DirecTV 24 hours daily. The announcement was made at the 1999 Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association National Convention.

The HBO HDTV channels kicks off on Channel 509. Movies airing in high definition in August include "Lethal Weapon 4," "Men in Black" and the HBO premiere of "How Stella Got Her Groove Back."

In addition to the HDTV news, DirecTV announced that its parent company, Hughes Electronics, has made an equity investment in Wink Communications, the interactive TV company. DirecTV also unveiled plans for the first pay-per-view series, "The Lost World" from Action Adventure Network.

SBC Finishes Deal With DirecTV

SBC Communications will sell DirecTV to its 18 million Southwestern Bell, Nevada Bell and Pacific Bell residential customers under a deal the regional phone company formally announced with the satellite provider.

The deal will allow SBC to become a one-stop-shopping provider of video and other communications services, while DirecTV will gain access to SBC's residential customers within California, Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas. "A lot of companies are talking about providing their customers with a complete communications and entertainment package, but SBC will soon be the only one actually doing it," said Royce Caldwell, president of SBC operations.

In 1998, SBC and DirecTV entered into an alliance that added the satellite provider to a package of services SBC sells to owners of multiple dwelling units. The new agreement will allow SBC to sell DirecTV service and receiving equipment to residential customers living in single-family homes served by SBC's Pacific Bell, Nevada Bell and Southwestern Bell companies.

DirecTV also has distribution agreements with Bell Atlantic and GTE.

HDTV For DirecTV

DirecTV is preparing HDTV services for the near future, just in time for Thomson's first RCA and ProScan-branded HDTV receiver systems. Other manufacturers such as Hitachi, Mitsubishi and Toshiba will follow with HDTV boxes of their own.

DirecTV also will demonstrate TiVo personal TV recorders. Philips plans to integrate the TiVo service into a DirecTV receiver early next year.

Former PrimeStar Customers Boost DirecTV Subs

DirecTV added 117,000 net new subscribers last month, pushing the company's total number of digital satellite television customers up to approximately 7.4 million.

That number includes customers subscribing to the PrimeStar by DirecTV service. DirecTV, a unit of Hugh Electronics, completed its purchase of the PrimeStar medium-power DBS service earlier this year. The company began transitioning former Primerstar customers to DirecTV service last month. At the end of June, PrimeStar by DirecTV subscribers totaled roughly 2.1 million.

DirecTV's June subscriber additions represented a record for that month with a 46 percent increase in net customer acquisition over June 1998.

DirecTV Creates Channel Neighborhoods

On July 20, DirecTV will reorganize its channels into "neighborhoods" grouped by theme. Channels 100 through 199 will be pay-per-view; 200 through 340 will be entertainment and arts; 350 through 399 will be news and information; 500 through 550 will be premium movies; 595 through 599 will be adult programming; 600 through 799 will be premium sports; and 800 through 899 will be music channels.

Also, on July 20, DirecTV will begin carrying the Spanish channels Univision and Galavision. Other special programming coming up on DirecTV includes a free concert by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on July 17 and a series of classic episodes of "The Johnny Carson Show" from July 2 through July 8.

A new line of Total Choice Silver Value Packages will include the standard Starz!/Encore offerings, channels DirecTV used for its premium movie programming prior to its USSB acquisition. The package will sell for $39.99.

Total Choice Silver Showtime, with five channels of Showtime, two channels of The Movie Channel, Flix and Sundance Channel, will sell for $44.99. Total Choice Silver HBO, with five channels of HBO, 2 channels of HBO Family and three channels of Cinemax, will sell for $47.99. Both packages - along with the Starz!/Encore offering - include 96 channels of Total Choice programming.

Other movie packages mix various premium offerings, and will sell for between $49.99 and $72.99. Total Choice Platinum, DirecTV's top package with 154 channels, will sell for $80.99 a month.

Total Choice Gold, the sports-focused package, doesn't change in price. The offering delivers 122 channels for $39.99 a month. The basic Total Choice package with 96 channels stays at $29.99 each month. A Select Choice package with 42 channels sells for $19.99 a month.

DirecTV customers also may subscribe to movie channels on an "a la carte" basis. Existing USSB customers and select DirecTV customers will begin transitioning to new, comparable packages beginning in July, according to the company.

"DirecTV-Ready" Homes

DirecTV signed a marketing and distribution agreement with Digital Interiors, a leader in the installation and integration of residential electronic systems.

The San Jose-based firm will create "DirecTV-ready" homes through its in-home wiring distribution system that integrates DirecTV with other technologies, enabling homeowners to seamlessly access electronics and services throughout the house. The system also has capabilities for Hughes' DirecPC service.

Digital Interiors will initially focus on homes being built in the Northern California area with its offering, eventually expanding nationwide. Home builders Digital Interiors will work with include Kaufman and Broad and Pinn Brothers.

DirecTV, STARZ! Launch Dolby Digital

Encore Media Group and DirecTV have teamed up to offer a series of movies in Dolby Digital 5.1 theater-quality audio to standard definition premium channel viewers.

The first film in Dolby Digital will be "Armageddon," starring Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck, which will air on Encore's STARZ! network June 29 at 10:15 PM ET/PT. STARZ! and DirecTV will continue the AC-3 Dolby Digital signals with upcoming films such as "Six Days Seven Nights," "Lost in Space," "ConAir," "Blade," "54," and "The Wedding Singer."

Dolby Digital 5.1 channel surround offers high-quality sound by delivering five discrete, full-fidelity audio channels plus a sub-woofer channel.

Stephanie Campbell, senior vice president of programming for DirecTV, said, "This is exciting news for DirecTV customers who have come to expect nothing less than the best and the latest in digital picture and sound technology."

DirecTV Gets DreamWorks For HDTV

DirecTV announced an agreement with DreamWorks to air the studio's pay-per-view films in high definition format (HDTV) for DirecTV subscribers. DirecTV will begin offering HDTV films later this year.

DirecTV and AOL Work Together

Even though America Online has the nation's leading satellite TV service in its corner, the Internet provider said it won't end its quest to gain access to cable's broadband platform.

AOL Chairman Steve Case, speaking during his company's announcement regarding an investment in Hughes Electronics and DirecTV, reiterated the service's stand that all broadband foundations, including cable's offering, "be open and non-discriminatory" to all providers.

Case went further, saying AOL will make a play not only across cable and satellite platforms, but will have a role in developing wireless broadband offerings and xDSL services from phone companies. He called it AOL's "anywhere, anytime, any-speed" initiative, where "America Online will play across all technologies, forming a broadband tapestry."

Under a deal announced Monday, Hughes (DirecTV) and America Online will step up its efforts to provide television and interactive services through the DBS provider and other Hughes companies.

For its part, AOL will market the DirecTV/AOL TV package to more than 16 million AOL and CompuServe members as well as to millions of consumers who see the Internet brands. DirecTV also will market AOL TV to its 7 million-plus subscribers and to potential new subscribers through its retail network.

Hughes will make AOL-Plus available nationwide via the DirecPC satellite Internet network by early 2000. The effort builds on America Online's recently announced partnerships with Bell Atlantic and SBC Communications to deliver xDSL broadband connectivity to AOL members. Hughes also will expand its DirecDuo line that combines DirecPC and DirecTV products.

Hughes Network Systems, which provides the DirecPC system and service, will design and initially manufacture the combination DirecTV/AOL TV set-top receiver. Part of Monday's announcement included a deal Hughes Network Systems made with Intel for the integration of Intel microprocessors and other technologies into interactive boxes.

The alliance also will nurture the development of Hughes' next-generation satellite system for two-way, broadband connectivity known as Spaceway. The service is scheduled to launch in 2002.

DirecTV Turns 5

DirecTV, considered the nation's largest distributor of digital multichannel video services, celebrated its fifth anniversary this week.

DirecTV was first introduced five years ago at Cowboy Maloney's Electric City in Jackson, Miss. With completion of the PrimeStar acquisition, DirecTV claims more than 7 million customers, including about 2 million consumers subscribing to "PrimeStar By DirecTV." More than 5 million subscribe to the high-power business.

DirecTV also gained a small number of subscribers when it closed its U.S. Satellite Broadcasting transaction last month.