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Home :: The History of DIRECTV
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Unarguably speaking, the most popular satellite service provider in the US
is the DIRECTV. There is an interesting history behind how DIRECTV grew to
be the household name, it is today.
The Satellite TV came into existence in March, 1978. At that time, the
very first broadcaster known as the public broadcasting service initiated
public television watching through the satellite. In the year 1984, Hughes
Electronics gained FCC (Federal Communications Commission) consent to
launch and activate the direct broadcast satellite system or the DBS. The
satellite DIRECTV-1 was launched on December 17, 1993.
DIRECTV is also nicknamed as the “minidish” because it is quite smaller
compared to the other satellites which the customers were used to. The
DIRECTV was just 18 inches in diameter and quite manageable compared to
the weighty TVRO satellite dishes of yesteryears. The trendy and compact
size of the DIRECTV satellite introduced to the consumers a new way of
receiving the best in digital entertainment.
The older TVRO dish systems were analog only and relied on open standard
equipment while DIRECTV was a digital wonder offering crystal clear
pictures and crisp sound. The minidish was operated on a closed system
which needed appropriate reception equipment. Unlike the TVRO system which
needed multiple satellite systems, the DIRECTV satellite received all of
their programming from one specific satellite. In the month of August
1994, people witnessed the launch of the second satellite from DIRECTV,
the DIRECTV-2. By this time the number of subscribers had zoomed close to
1 million.
In the year 1995, the market leaders Toshiba and
Uniden got the
authorization from DIRECTV to manufacture DBS systems. DIRECTV wanted to
make sure that their company never comprised on the best and spent a
whopping $170 million in advertising and marketing. By the year 1997,
DIRECTV was already on its way launching the sixth version of DIRECTV.
The year 1998 is of historic significance for DIRECTV because it entered
into an agreement to take over the US Satellite Broadcasting service for
more than $1.35 billion in stocks and cash. The subscriber base by this
tame had reached over 4 million. The merger was a landmark success for
DIRECTV because of increased customer base and also because of the
increasing number of channels which augmented from 185 to 210.
The year 1999 was another milestone year for DIRECTV as it gained
Primestar, Inc. and their two and a half million subscriber base. By
virtue of this take-over, DIRECTV acquired the ownership over Primestar’s
satellite assets which included eleven transponders and a couple of
satellites. This move enabled high powered DBS frequencies to gain maximum
coverage in the whole of continental US. In the same year in the month of
October, DIRECTV launched its very own satellite DIRECTV-1R.
The year 2001 saw a phenomenal growth of over ten and a half million
subscribers. By the later half of the year, DIRECTV made the world aware
of its move to merge with its major competitor EchoStar Communications,
which was the parent company of DISH network. In November, DIRECTV united
with Music Choice and Wink Communications to announce a novel interactive
music service which would give people the option to buy a CD of the music
they were listening to directly, with the help of their remote control.
This innovative move flagged off in the month of September, 2002.
The year of 2003 was also eventful for DIRECTV as it introduced a high
definition video recorder and TiVo which was a second generation model
formed through a partnership with Philips. In the month of April, the
General Motors Corporation which was the holding company for
Hughes
Electronics Corporation sold the controlling interest to the
head of News
Corporation, Rupert Murdoch for a plum deal. Incidentally, in the same
year DIRECTV was conferred the number 1 company for customer service by JD
Powers & Associates. By November, DIRECTV had already reached the 12
million customer landmark.
Presently DIRECTV enjoys the love and patronage of its loyal customers and
subscribers. With around 15 million customers in the US, it remains the
numero uno consumer satellite provider and a forerunner of digital
entertainment.
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