SkyPerfecTV uses C-Cube based boxes..................
multichannel.com
Daily Update for March 03, 2000:
SkyPerfecTV to Fold In DirecTV
El Segundo, Calif. -- DirecTV Japan said Thursday that it will merge with larger competitor SkyPerfecTV, ending a money-losing effort to become a major player in the country's direct-to-home market.
News Corp.- and Sony Corp.-backed SkyPerfecTV, with 1.7 million subscribers, will absorb DirecTV Japan's 400,000-strong customer base.
As part of the deal, DirecTV Inc. parent Hughes Electronics Corp. will acquire a 6.8 percent stake in SkyPerfecTV, while other DirecTV Japan shareholders will own a further 3.4 percent in the platform.
A merger of the two companies had long been expected, with DirecTV Japan's late entry into the market dogging it throughout its existence.
What's more, international pay TV-industry executives view Japan as one of the world's more complex markets, and SkyPerfecTV itself is the product of two merged platforms.
"Although subscriber growth of DirecTV Japan was improving, we do not believe it was sufficient to achieve our corporate objectives of being the market leader in each of our key businesses," Hughes chairman and CEO Michael Smith said in a prepared statement.
Hughes has nine partners in DirecTV Japan, including heavyweight holding companies Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corp.
- 3/02/00
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