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DirecTV (trademarked as "DIRECTV") is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service based in El Segundo, California, USA, that transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States and Latin America except for Mexico and Brazil. DirecTV is owned by DirecTV Group, which in turn is controlled by News Corporation.
General information DirecTV typically uses a fixed 18-inch diameter dish antenna to receive its signals. Slightly larger, 18×24-inch elliptical antennas which receive signals from three geostationary satellite positions simultaneously are becoming more common as DirecTV attempt to squeeze more programming onto their growing systems. DTV is now installing a dish that has five LNBs for HDTV programming and local channels in selected markets. These systems receive signals from up to 5 separate satellites in both the Ku-band and Ka-band. DirecTV offers local channels to more than 94% of the United States including Hawaii and Alaska. As of November 30, 2005 DirecTV has over 15 million customers in the U.S. and 1.57 million in Latin America. 2005 revenues are $3.15 billion. The Economist has suggested that News Corporation would eventually like to merge DirecTV with Sky, its British satellite operation, and possibly its Asian Star and Australian Foxtel networks to form a global satellite TV company. In late July 2006, DirecTV added several channels to their online guide that are apparently not available to viewers — these include UK-based Sky Sports One, Sky One and Sky News. The three are channels that are generally available to satellite television viewers in the United Kingdom, though Sky News has been made available in other countries internationally. History Market adoption As of June 2006, DirecTV has 15.4 million subscribers, more than any other in the satellite industry, having subscribed their 15 millionth customer in November 2005. Management
Access card history DirecTV transmits programming with encryption to mitigate signal piracy. The receiver (also known as an IRD, or "integrated receiver-decoder") utilizes ISO 7816 smart cards which tell the receiver how to decrypt the programming for viewing. In a continuing effort to combat piracy, an access card generation is created approximately every two years, outdating the old set. DirecTV is now utilizing a fifth generation of access cards. DirecTV has long been a victim of an active signal piracy underground, but has recently begun to crack down on illegal reception of its signals. On its anti-piracy website, DirecTV claims to have sued over 24,000 end users as of March 17, 2004, including celebrity O.J. Simpson. DirecTV bases its suits on purchase records of ISO-7816 Smart Card devices. Although these devices could be used to rewrite DirecTV's access cards, there are countless legitimate uses for them as well. This has caused controversy, since DirecTV is making the assumption that all purchasers of the devices are pirates. High-definition television (HDTV) Like its competitors, DirecTV offers high-definition television (HDTV) and interactive services. To handle the proliferation of bandwidth-intensive HDTV broadcasting, DirecTV rebroadcasts local HDTV stations using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec while employing a newer transmission protocol (DVB-S2) over the SPACEWAY-1 and SPACEWAY-2 satellites. This allows DirecTV to squeeze much more HD programming over its satellite signal than was previously feasible using the older MPEG-2 compression and DSS protocol it has been using. DirectTV is defending a lawsuit that alleges DirecTV lowered HDTV picture resolution below that of the industry's accepted definition of HDTV. DirectTV counters that its high definition picture quality is comparable to or better than that of any other TV service. To receive the channels encoded in MPEG-4 requires newer receivers such as the H20 as well as the 5-LNB Ka/Ku dish. DirecTV has contracted with Korea's LG Electronics and France's Thomson to manufacture these new receivers. LG Electronics offers the Model DirecTV uses the less advanced H10 receiver only when the customer cannot receive local stations. The HD channels offered by DirecTV are: DirecTV also broadcasts FSN in HD in various markets, on different channels in the 90s range, for certain games. DirecTV broadcasts some of the NFL Sunday Ticket package in HD for an additional fee. This service is only available to customers that purchase the NFL Sunday Ticket Super Fan for an additional $99. Local network affiliates of (CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX) broadcasts in HDTV are available in major markets. Satellite fleet
Local channels DirecTV also offers local channels (CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, PBS, The CW, MyNetworkTV, i: Independent Television (in markets that carry that network), and some independent stations) for many markets. In markets that lack a CW affiliate, DirecTV includes WSFL from Miami or KSWB from San Diego. Subscribers located where they cannot receive a decent terrestrial television signal can receive feeds from New York and Los Angeles for CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox, though a waiver from the local stations may be required to allow this, approved at their discretion. National PBS and i channels are also available. In the largest markets local channels are carried on the satellite at 101°W. In some smaller markets, the local channels are carried on a second satellite located at 119°W which requires a slightly larger dish with two or three LNBs or the newer Ka/Ku 5-LNB dish. In a few smaller markets, local stations are located on a satellite at 72.5°W that requires a second dish to be installed. In late 2005 DirecTV began providing local HDTV channels to the largest markets, requiring newer receivers with a larger dish capable of receiving signals from up to five satellites at once. The Ku-band signals on the newer Ka/Ku dish are received from 101°W, 110°W, and 119°W, while Ka-band signals are from 99°W and 103°W. Local television channels are transmitted over optical fiber links, Ku-band satellite uplink, microwave, and conventional terrestrial transmission to uplink centers located throughout the United States. See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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