DIRECTV 2004 Annual Report Download - page 5

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In our fi rst full year since News Corporation’s
purchase of a 34 percent interest in The DIRECTV
Group, we accomplished a great deal and, as
a result, we are now well-positioned to achieve
our vision of making DIRECTV the best television
experience in the world.
Our main priority in 2004 was to repair the structural,
operational and competitive weaknesses that had
accumulated during a prolonged sale process
of the company that had lasted more than three
years. We rebuilt the business by installing a new
executive management team, restructuring the
corporate staff and developing a new culture
with an entrepreneurial emphasis on leadership,
decisiveness and agility.
We also restructured the company to focus on
satellite television. As part of this process, we
changed the company’s name from Hughes
Electronics to The DIRECTV Group, and we
generated more than $3 billion in cash by selling
non-core businesses and investments, such as
PanAmSat Corporation and the set-top box
manufacturing operations of Hughes
Network Systems.
In addition, we resolved key structural issues, such as our fragmented
rural distribution network. With the acquisition of NRTC subscribers
including certain assets of Pegasus Satellite Television, we gained direct
access to all rural U.S. markets and created a true national footprint for
the fi rst time in our history. In Latin America, we announced plans to
merge the DIRECTV and Sky Latin America platforms, putting us on track
to create an extremely successful and profi table business in that region.
Although we viewed 2004 as a transitional year, DIRECTV U.S. achieved
record-breaking gross subscriber additions of 4.2 million as well as net
subscriber additions of 1.7 million. Demonstrating the continued
strong demand for DIRECTV, we added more new customers than any
other pay TV service in the United States and now serve more than 14
million households.
A Message to Shareholders
Chase Carey
President and CEO
The DIRECTV Group, Inc.
Rupert Murdoch
Chairman of the Board
The DIRECTV Group, Inc.