DirecTV in the News

DIRECTV Partners with Quokka

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (Reuters) Sept 21, 2000 - Digital satellite television service provider DIRECTV Inc. said Thursday it has taken an equity stake in Quokka Sports Inc. and formed a pact with the online sports entertainment provider to deliver interactive sports programming to DIRECTV'S set-top boxes.

The amount of DIRECTV's stake in Quokka was not disclosed.

Quokka and DIRECTV, which is owned by Hughes Electronics Corp. and has 8.7 million subscribers, said in a statement that they would develop and market broadcast products for digital sports entertainment.

The move comes as content, satellite and cable players move forward with their interactive television plans. The market for enhanced broadcast products and services catering for two-way television is expected to increase from $69 million to over $10 billion by 2004, according to Forrester Research,

"We have found that sports enthusiasts want more than a traditional broadcast of sports. They want to interact with the content and drill down into their personal area of interest. We have been frustrated with the speed of the Web and we look forward to using all of the digital assets at our disposal,'' said Michael Gough, Quokka Sports' chief creative officer.

On the interactive television front, DIRECTV formed a pact with Microsoft Corp. and Thomson Multimedia in June to market a new system that aimed to make television more interactive and personalized by using Microsoft's new UltimateTV service.