DIRECTV launches DIRECTV Genie™ whole-home HD DVR

DIRECTV Grants Endless Wishes with the Industry’s Most Advanced HD DVR; The New DIRECTV Genie™ Records Five Shows at Once, Eliminates Need for Receivers in Every Room, Automatically Recommends Shows Matching Viewers’ Tastes and So Much More

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is granting TV viewers their ultimate wish – the industry’s most advanced and intuitive HD DVR, the new DIRECTV Genie™ – enabling a whole new suite of magical TV viewing capabilities.

The DIRECTV Genie delivers an innovative set of features that include the ability to record five shows in HD at one time; up to three times more HD recording capacity than cable HD DVRs; a full HD DVR experience on every TV in the home without seeing a box in each and every room; and a new opt-in feature that will automatically recommend shows based on the viewer’s taste.

DIRECTV Genie™ is now the entertainment hub for the entire home and shares content seamlessly with additional TVs that are connected to small DIRECTV clients or other connected devices (such as RVU-enabled TVs, gaming consoles and Blu-ray players) from a single HD DVR.

“We simply asked consumers what they wished for in the perfect television experience and then set out to develop as many of those features as possible in our new flagship HD DVR. Given all that Genie can do, we expect our customers to be extremely impressed with this next generation experience,” said Romulo Pontual, executive vice president and CTO of DIRECTV. “Gone are the days of scheduling conflicts, channel surfing, messy wires and boxes, missed shows and family fights over the remote. DIRECTV Genie’s massive hard drive, five tuners and its sophisticated, intuitive search and discovery functionality creates a simple and magical television experience without the need for receivers in every room.”

Benefits and features of the DIRECTV Genie™ include:

• Five Tuners
  • Record five programs at the same time with one Genie HD DVR
• Full HD DVR Functionality – in every connected room
  • Pause and rewind live TV in every room
  • Record and delete shows in every room
  • Watch the same recorded show on multiple TV’s simultaneously (up to four at a time)
  • View and record DIRECTV On Demand programs in every room
• Genie™ Recommends
  • DIRECTV customers can opt-in and have their DIRECTV Genie recommend and store new shows that match their TV preferences
• RVU Technology
  • One receiver serves the entire home, so DVR service can be enjoyed on every TV, without the need for a DVR at each TV
  • Connect up to eight RVU-enabled TVs to a single Genie
• Advanced Search
  • Search and schedule recordings up to two weeks in advance
• Picture-in-picture
• Double play
  • Watch, pause, rewind, fast-forward on two channels at the same time
• Start Over
  • Start programs at the beginning if you tune in late
• Past Episodes
  • Catch up on past episodes, as far back as five weeks
• DIRECTV TV Apps
  • Access DIRECTV TV Apps on the Genie including Pandora, ScoreGuide, Facebook, Twitter and other general apps such as news, sports and weather
• One terabyte of storage
  • Store up to 200 hours of HD programming
  • With 800 hours of SD storage, you can record more than 1,500 shows

Beginning today, new qualified customers can get a free upgrade to Genie, as well as connect up to four rooms. In addition, new customers who order the CHOICE™ Package and above will get 2012 NFL SUNDAY TICKET included at no extra charge and three free months of premium channels.