"Particularly noteworthy was the significant growth in advanced products in the quarter, including the addition of nearly twice as many High Definition, or HD, customers compared to the prior year," said Chase Carey, DIRECTV's president and CEO.
The company's profit increased to $336 million, compared to $235 million in the 2006 first quarter. Total revenue also rose 15 percent.
DIRECTV said it added 235,000 overall subscribers in the first quarter and twice as many high-def subs compared to last year's first quarter.
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However,
DIRECTV added 255,000 subs overall in last year's first
quarter, a sign that non-HD subscription growth is slowing.
The satcaster now has 16.2 million subs.
Revenue still rose, however, because DIRECTV's average
monthly revenue per customer increased 5.2 percent to
$73.40. The company credited the rise in high-def and
Digital Video Recorder subs.
"The increased sales of HD and digital video recorders are
driving favorable results for most of our key operating
metrics," Carey said. "It's very exciting to see the strong
demand for HD services, particularly considering the fact
that we plan to greatly expand our HD programming later this
year."
DIRECTV plans to offer 100 national high-def channels by
year's end and will launch the first of two new satellites
next month to expand capacity.
DIRECTV reveals pricing
plans for its expanded high-def lineup!
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Phillip Swann is
president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in
dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox
News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The
Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The
Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at
swann@tvpredictions.com
or at 703-505-3064.
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