Company executives also participated in an 'Investors Call' with Wall Street analysts. And DIRECTV's announced plan to offer 100 high-def channels by year's end was a frequent topic.
During the discussion, the executives said there are no plans to charge customers more for the extra high-def channels; that its high-def capacity will "greatly" increase in September with the launch of a new satellite in June; and that demand for its HD DVR is growing fast.
Here's some excerpts from yesterday's DIRECTV Investors Call on topics related to High-Definition TV:
DIRECTV's Upcoming Satellite Launch For HDTV:
"At the top of the list is clearly our planned launch of a new satellite, a satellite we are calling DirecTV-10 in late June. This satellite will greatly increase our HD capacity beginning in September; that's about the target when we hope the satellite should be operational if everything stays on target. With that satellite, we'll move forward to later this year, towards the end of the year bringing 100 channels of HD to the marketplace." -- DIRECTV CEO Chase Carey.
Will DIRECTV Charge More For Its Expanded HD Lineup?
"I think in terms of pricing, it is probably -- essentially, we’ve got a $10 price to the package and we don’t have plans to change that. So from a pricing perspective, the addition of the channels is not going to change what we do today with the product." -- Carey.
DIRECTV On Adding Local HD Markets
"This satellite will also provide us with capacity to continue to deliver local HD channels, looking to target about 75 markets that we would be at towards the end of the year, that would represent about 75 percent of US households to be up from 60 markets we're in today." -- Carey.
DIRECTV's Plan For a Second Satellite
"The second satellite, DirecTV-11, is scheduled to be in service the first half of next year. That satellite is delayed a bit as we said before due to the C launch problems. That delay really only has an impact on probably pushback some of our local HD launches but it's not material because we're really, at this point, moving down to smaller markets that on an individual basis are not as big a part of our plans. But once we get that satellite up, DirecTV-11 with DirecTV-10 we will have the capacity for over 150 national channels and 1,500 plus local channels." -- Carey
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Why HDTV Helped
DIRECTV Increase Profits
"Another
factor contributing to (DIRECTV) growth was the accelerating
demand for advanced services. In the quarter, over one-third
of new customers signed up for HD and/or DVR services. The
improved credit quality of new subscribers, coupled with the
higher HD and DVR penetration are the main factors driving
our monthly churn rate from 1.45% last year to 1.44% in the
current quarter; the lowest rate in three years." -- DIRECTV CFO Michael Palkovic.
HD DVRs Growing
In Popularity
"Existing
customers upgrading to HD-DVRs increased to nearly four
times the prior year." -- Palkovic.
Cost of Manufacturing HD DVR
"We continue to charge an upfront fee of $299 and require a
two-year commitment. The cost of the HD-DVR box is still a
bit over $400; however, later this year we'll drive the cost
of that box down by over $100." -- Palkovic
DIRECTV
Spending More On HD DVRs
"Upgrade
and retention costs were clearly higher than last year and
our expectations. The increase was really primarily due to
greater than planned demand for advanced products,
particularly the HD DVRs."
-- Carey.
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