DIRECTV BRACES FOR '99
Outlines strategies for the coming year
by the Staff of TWICE
LAS VEGAS, January 8, 1999 -- DirecTv, fresh from successes
in 1998 during which it added 1.15 million net new subscribers,
reeling in 183,000 of those in December alone, is heading into its
fifth anniversary year with a bevy of new programming initiatives,
consumer promotions, strategic alliances and technology
advancements.
The number one satellite TV provider, with 4.46 million total
subscribers, announced plans to launch Wink interactive enhanced
broadcasts free of charge to its subscribers. DirecTv had earlier
been at work on a more PC-centric suite of interactive services,
but scrapped those plans last year to focus on TV-oriented
interactivity. It also announced an alliance here at CES with Philips
Electronics and TiVo for Philips' Personal TV, which will enable
consumers to create a TV lineup that jibes with their personal
tastes.
With Wink Enhanced Broadcasting through DirecTv, the service's
subscribers will have access to detailed information and statistics
on broadcasts as they watch, and they can conduct e-commerce,
participate in polling, and access special DirecTv promotions and
offers.
Wink-enabled set-top boxes are due out by the second quarter
and will receive a software upgrade via DirecTv's satellite signal to
enable activation of Wink services. Wink is expected to be
integrated into DirecTv systems by the third quarter.
As it approaches its fifth anniversary in June, DirecTv anticipates
several important milestones, including:
Approvals of its acquisition of U.S. Satellite Broadcasting
(USSB), its partner since the national launch of DBS
service in 1994, by midyear.
Launching a fourth high-powered satellite that will add up to
20 new channels, also by midyear.
Becoming cash-flow positive.
Debuting Spanish-language programming services.
Completion of its high-tech digital broadcast center in
Marina Del Rey, Calif.
More alliances with CE makers for built-in DirecTv
receivers in their DTV products.
The addition of a second channel of high-definition
programming.
And hardware advancements with Thomson, which
DirecTv took an equity stake in last year.
On the USSB merger, DirecTv President Eddy Hartenstein said a
transition team meets weekly relating to infrastructure and other
issues, and that discussions about integrating USSB's premium
channels, packaging and pricing remain under discussion.
Hartenstein said it is unlikely the branding of DirecTv's existing
packages would change other than to grow in the number of
channel offerings, but there will probably be a new package
offering for new subscriber acquisition.
In other news, DirecTv will partner with New Line Cinema to
distribute pay-per-view movies in HDTV starting in May with titles
to include Pleasantville, Living Out Loud and American History X.
By midyear, DirecTv expects digital set-top converters out that
can be used to receive HDTV programs.
DirecTv also unveiled two new promotions. In one, with USSB,
the company offers consumers who purchase a DirecTv system
between January 14 and February 21 and activate DirecTv's Total
Choice Platinum and USSB Entertainment by March 5 will
automatically receive $200 in free programming. The promo will
be supported by a large national print and TV ad campaign, plus
extensive retail POP.
DirecTv's take on March Madness, the Mega March Mania
promo, will offer customers all 64 NCAA basketball games,
allowing fans to tune into all out-of-market games on a
pay-per-view basis. At press time, no exact date set for the start
of the offer.
-- Tobi Elkin
Philips, DirecTv, TiVo in personal TV deal
Philips announced on the eve of CES plans to offer DirecTv
satellite set-top boxes incorporating components for the TiVo
personalized "push" television service.
Philips becomes the first major consumer electronics manufacturer
to announce a partnership with TiVo, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based
startup that plans to offer an intelligent program guide service. The
system is designed to "learn" a user's viewing habits in order to
automatically find and record to a hard drive programs it decides
the user will enjoy.
The announcement was also the first formal acknowledgment that
DirecTv plans to work with TiVo beyond the "market trials" it has
disclosed in the past.
Philips said it will manufacture "later this year" a TiVo-enabled
DirecTv IRD under its own brand, and it plans to eventually offer
"a series of products designed to bring the consumer in control of
his or her television experience, including e-commerce, data
services and time-shifting."
"A second set-top box, available during the first half of next year,
will also include an ATSC receiver, adding the benefits of digital
television picture quality and programming," Philips said. Pricing
was not disclosed for either product.
Philips said it is negotiating with DirecTv and TiVo on a means to
share in the ongoing revenue streams afforded by the two services.
In addition to subscription fees, TiVo is looking to draw revenue
from "personalized" advertising and e-commerce, using viewer
demographics to determine the most meaningful advertising to the
viewer.
TiVo is currently conducting market trials using a $9.95 per month
subscription fee for its intelligent program guide service. The
system uses a phone-line modem to download data for upcoming
television programming.
Roel Pieper, Philips Consumer Electronics executive VP, said
DirecTv will distribute the product, which will carry the Philips
brand.
Philips said it has trademarked the term "Personal TV" to market
the system. "Are we talking about a big market?" Pieper asked.
"We are talking about a huge market." |
