Washington, D.C. (September 16, 2011) -- DIRECTV CFO Patrick Doyle yesterday told a financial conference that his company's recent historic sub growth decline can be blamed on the sluggish economy.

Speaking before the Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Media Conference in New York, Doyle said last quarter's net gain of just 26,000 subscribers, the lowest quarterly gain in DIRECTV history, was the result of some consumers no longer being able to pay for subscription TV service.

Deadline.com quotes Doyle commenting on the company's churn rate as saying, "We hope they're not gone forever (but) we're not seeing the type of demand that we'd like to see (for high-priced Pay-Per-View and other events.")

Come on, Doyle, you've been facing economic problems for a few years now like everyone else -- and we're now supposed to believe that it's suddenly the reason behind your poor subscription efforts. Prior to this year, you continued to generate new subs as if nothing had changed. So why did the economy suddenly become an issue?

The answer is that Doyle's comments are a smokescreen to hide the real reason why DIRECTV is now having trouble getting new subs and keeping old ones.

The real reason: The satcaster has made one stupid mistake after another over the last few years, first putting a large bet on 3D TV and second deciding it wasn't necessary to have more basic cable channels in HD, such as BBC America, National Geographic Wild, E!, AMC and a couple dozen more. (Interestingly, DIRECTV finally added AMC HD shortly after that last disappointing financial report.)

DIRECTV has ignored the wishes of its biggest audience -- high-def viewers who represent a significant majority of its subscription base. Instead of giving them what they wanted -- more basic cable channels In HD -- DIRECTV decided to add four 3D TV channels although there was little evidence that anyone wanted them.

So how did that 3D TV decision work out? Let's listen to Doyle, as quoted by Deadline.com:

""It hasn't really caught fire for us," Doyle said of 3D TV.

Well, that's great, isn't it. For two years, DIRECTV has invested in something that "hasn't caught fire" over something (more HD channels) that it knows would please its customers.

Is there any wonder now why DIRECTV subscriptions are going south?