DIRECTV 2009 Annual Report Download - page 19

DIRECTV
the capacity to broadcast approximately 200 national HD channels to nearly all U.S.
television households. As part of this rollout, we plan on offering local channels in HD to
19 additional markets, bringing the total number of HD local channel markets to 157—
covering over 95% of TV homes. Subscribers receiving local HD channels will generally
only receive the channels broadcast in their home market. Additionally, in 2010 we plan on
being one of the first MVPD providers to offer dedicated 3D programming by introducing
three 3D channels to our HD customers who have purchased 3D television sets.
We also expect to expand our DIRECTV on DEMAND, our video on demand, or VOD,
service for subscribers that have the DIRECTV Plus↧ digital video recorder, or DVR, or
DIRECTV Plus↧ HD DVR set-top receivers. As of year end 2009, DIRECTV on
DEMAND offered about 6,000 titles providing thousands of hours of top programming
from the major broadcast and cable networks, as well as popular movies. Most of the titles
are offered free of charge and are downloaded from the Internet through a broadband
connection for those subscribers with a DIRECTV Plus HD DVR. In addition, we
download top movies via our satellites to a customer’s DVR hard drive. In 2010, we expect
to introduce a new movie service, DIRECTV CinemaTM, which will substantially increase
the number of new release movies available for our customers to view and purchase from
either their television, laptop computer or mobile telephone.
•Expand and Enhance Interactive Services. We believe that enhanced and interactive services
play an important role in the subscriber experience. For example, NFL SUNDAY TICKET
subscribers can view a mix-channel with up to 8 games on one screen while the
SUPERCASTTM service lets viewers access games and interactive statistics online through a
personal computer. We also offer interactive services for many major tennis and golf events,
including the Masters↧ golf tournament, where we dedicate several extra channels of event
coverage, interactive scoreboards and a mix channel, all of which no other MVPD operator
provides. In 2009, we launched our free TV Apps service, which are applications that
appear on the TV, including Flickr↧, weather forecasts and other user generated programs
for customers who connect their DIRECTV Plus HD DVR to their broadband router. We
have added interactive applications for the 2010 Winter Olympics, such as medal count
pages and special USA team coverage.
•Regional Sports Networks. Our three regional sports networks acquired in November 2009
provide us with promotional opportunities and will enable us to further develop unique and
differentiated sports programming.
•Technology Leadership. We believe that technological leadership has been and will continue to be
important to our ability to introduce services that are easy to use and subscriber-friendly, while
also reducing costs. We believe that advancements in technology will drive subscriber demand
for enhanced DVRs and HD equipment, VOD, a whole-house entertainment solution, mobile
and portable devices.
•Introduce Multi-Room, Whole-House, Mobile and Portable Services. We believe that it is
important for our subscribers to have multiple ways to access DIRECTV↧ programming
throughout the home and on devices outside of the home. Accordingly, in 2010 we will be
introducing a multi-room viewing service. This service will enable customers with the proper
equipment to share content and recorded shows around the house. In the second half of
2010, we expect to introduce a home media center that will provide HD, DVR and
standard-definition video functionality throughout the home and allow customers to access
stored content, including video, photos and music, seamlessly from any connected television
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