DIRECTV U.S. Adds 326,000 Customers in Q3

DIRECTV U.S. added 811,000 gross subscribers and after accounting for churn, 326,000 net subscribers in Q3 2003, giving it a total subscriber base of 10.28 million, 12% more than this time last year. When including subscribers in the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative ("NRTC") territories, the DIRECTV U.S. platform ended the quarter with 11.85 million total subscribers.


DIRECTV U.S. reported quarterly revenues of $1.93 billion, an increase of 20% over last year's third quarter revenues of $1.62 billion. ARPU increased approximately $4.50, or 8%, to $63.70 in the quarter primarily due to the March 2003 price increase, additional fees from the increased number of customers that have multiple set-top receivers, the adoption of new accounting rules, and special promotions with the NFL.


DIRECTV Latin America, which is in bankruptcy proceedings, lost 44,000 net subscribers in Q3 primarily due to disconnections for past-due accounts. The total number of DIRECTV subscribers in Latin America as of September 30, 2003, was 1.45 million compared to 1.60 million at the same point last year, representing a decline of 10%.
http://www.hughes.com