DIRECTV Announces Fourth Quarter and FY2006 Results

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (NYSE:DTV) today reported that fourth quarter revenues increased 16% to $4.18 billion and operating profit before depreciation and amortization more than doubled to $915 million compared to last year’s fourth quarter.

DIRECTV U.S. Segment

Fourth Quarter Review

DIRECTV U.S. gross subscriber additions of 1,021,000 increased 6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2005 primarily due to stronger sales channels and an increase in the number of higher quality subscribers attained in the quarter. The strategy of attaining higher quality subscribers combined with the significant increase in subscribers with HD and DVR services over the last year were the major contributors to the reduction in monthly churn from 1.70% to 1.57% in the current quarter. As a result of the higher gross additions and the lower churn, DIRECTV U.S. increased its net subscriber additions by 38% to 275,000 in the quarter. The total number of DIRECTV U.S. subscribers as of December 31, 2006 was 15.95 million, an increase of 5% over the 15.13 million subscribers reported on December 31, 2005.

Full Year Review

DIRECTV U.S. gross subscriber additions of 3,809,000 declined 9% compared to 2005 primarily due to the implementation of credit policies and dealer incentives designed to improve the quality of new subscriber additions. The strategy of attaining higher quality subscribers combined with a significant increase in subscribers with HD and DVR services were the major contributors to the reduction in average monthly churn from 1.70% to 1.60% in 2006. DIRECTV U.S. added 820,000 net subscribers in 2006 bringing the total number of DIRECTV U.S. subscribers to 15.95 million as of December 31, 2006.

DIRECTV Latin America Segment

Fourth Quarter Review

In the fourth quarter of 2006, DIRECTV Latin America’s net subscriber additions nearly doubled to 77,000 primarily due to strong growth at PanAmericana, particularly in Venezuela, Colombia, and Peru. Also contributing to the net subscriber increase was a decline in aggregate churn from 1.76% to 1.29% in the current quarter. The total number of DIRECTV subscribers in Latin America as of December 31, 2006 increased 70% to 2.71 million compared to 1.59 million as of December 31, 2005. The increase was due to the 869,000 subscribers added as a result of the merger with Sky Brazil, as well as the new subscribers added throughout the region over the past year.

Full Year Review

In 2006, DIRECTV Latin America’s net subscriber additions of 249,000 were 67% higher than in 2005 primarily due to strong growth throughout PanAmericana and a decline in aggregate churn from 1.67% to 1.46% in the current year. Revenues for DIRECTV Latin America increased 37% to $1.01 billion during the year primarily due to the consolidation of Sky Brazil’s operations and the subscriber growth mentioned above, partially offset by lower revenue at DIRECTV Mexico due to the sale of its subscribers in 2005.

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