The DIRECTV Group Announces First Quarter 2008 Results

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
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The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTV) today reported that first quarter 2008 revenues increased 17% to $4.59 billion, operating profit before depreciation and amortization (OPBDA) increased 27% to $1.18 billion and operating profit increased 17% to $657 million compared to last year’s first quarter. The DIRECTV Group reported that first quarter net income of $371 million increased 10% and earnings per share increased 19% to $0.32 compared with the same period last year.

DIRECTV U.S. Segment – First Quarter Review

Net subscriber additions of 275,000 increased 17% from last year’s first quarter due to a 4% increase in gross subscriber additions to 964,000 and a decline in average monthly churn to 1.36%. The increase in gross additions was primarily due to increased sales of HD and DVR services, as well as strong results from our direct sales channel. The reduction in churn was principally due to an increase in the number of subscribers with advanced services and a continued focus on attaining higher quality subscribers, including the implementation of tighter credit policies.

                                                        Three Months
DIRECTV U.S.                                           Ended March 31,
                                                       ---------------
Subscriber Data (in 000's except Churn)                  2008    2007
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Gross Subscriber Additions                                964     929
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Average Monthly Subscriber Churn                         1.36%   1.44%
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Net Subscriber Additions                                  275     235
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Cumulative Subscribers                                 17,035  16,188
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DIRECTV Latin America Segment – First Quarter Review

The DIRECTV Group owns approximately 74% of Sky Brazil, 41% of Sky Mexico and 100% of PanAmericana, which covers most of the remaining countries in the region. Sky Mexico, whose results are accounted for as an equity method investment and therefore are not consolidated by DIRECTV Latin America, had approximately 1.64 million subscribers as of March 31, 2008 bringing the total subscribers in the region to 5.12 million.

In the first quarter of 2008, DIRECTV Latin America net subscriber additions more than doubled to 200,000 compared to the same period last year. The increase was due to higher gross additions mainly in Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina, partially offset by higher churn of 1.57% reflecting the significant increase in first-year subscribers who typically have higher churn rates compared to longer tenured subscribers. The total number of DIRECTV subscribers in Latin America as of March 31, 2008 increased 24% to 3.48 million compared to 2.80 million as of March 31, 2007.

                                                        Three Months
DIRECTV Latin America                                  Ended March 31,
                                                       ---------------
Subscriber Data(1) (in 000's except Churn)               2008    2007
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Gross Subscriber Additions                                 359    204
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Average Monthly Subscriber Churn                          1.57%  1.40%
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Net Subscriber Additions                                   200     88
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Cumulative Subscribers                                   3,475  2,799
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(1) DIRECTV Latin America subscriber data exclude subscribers of the Sky Mexico service. Gross and net subscriber additions as well as churn exclude the impact of the migration of approximately 4,000 subscribers in Central America to Sky Mexico in the first quarter of 2008. Cumulative subscriber totals include a reduction for the migration of these 4,000 subscribers.

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