DIRECTV: Revenues Up On HDTV Demand
But the satcaster says earnings fell due to programming expenses.
By Swanni
The satcaster, which began its much-anticipated high-def expansion in September, now offers more than 70 HDTV channels. DIRECTV previously had just 10 HD channels.
Despite the revenue increase, however, DIRECTV reported that third quarter earnings fell due to higher costs to provide those extra programming services.
The company said net income declined 14 percent to $319 million from $370 million in last year's third quarter. Revenue jumped from $3.7 billion to $4.3 billion.
DIRECTV also said it added 240,000 net subscribers in the third quarter, which is an increase of 45 percent over the previous third quarter.
That brings DIRECTV to 16.6 million subscribers overall and the company credits HD and DVR services for the boost.
"Significantly greater sales of High-Definition and Digital Video Recorder services to higher quality subscribers are having an extremely positive impact," DIRECTV CEO Chase Carey said today.
DIRECTV said its average monthly bill is now $78.79, an 8.3 percent increase over last year.
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