DIRECTV 2012 Annual Report Download - page 24

DIRECTV
a premium high-definition whole-home DVR service with a terabyte hard satellites that are sometimes referred to as ‘‘tweeners’’ which would provide CONUS
drive that allows consumers to record five different high-definition programs coverage. See ‘‘Government Regulation—FCC Regulation Under the
simultaneously while viewing and controlling content from one DVR to Communications Act and Related Acts’’ and ‘‘Risk Factors—The ability to maintain
four different locations in the house at the same time with the appropriate FCC licenses and other regulatory approvals is critical to our business’’ for more
equipment. We also enhanced the search and discovery functionality on our information related to these types of slots and satellites.
high-definition user interface, or HD UI, with a new opt-in feature which •Strong Balance Sheet. We believe our cash position and borrowing capacity
recommends personalized programming that is available to watch instantly. combined with our current and expected future cash generation capability
In addition, we continue to evolve our platform to meet our subscribers’ provides us with significant financial flexibility to improve stockholder value.
desire to view quality content where they want it most. For example, in As of December 31, 2012, we have repurchased approximately $25.7 billion
2012 we expanded the access to our live streaming content offerings on of our common stock over the last seven years, retiring approximately 60%
certain devices both inside and outside of the home and increased the of our then-outstanding shares, and have announced a new $4 billion share
programming available for subscribers to watch provided they are connected repurchase program.
to the Internet.
Business Strategy
•Strong Customer Satisfaction. We have attained top rankings in customer
satisfaction studies for our industry. For example, we have scored higher Our vision is to provide customers with the best video experience in the
than the largest national cable providers in customer satisfaction for twelve United States both inside and outside of the home by offering subscribers unique,
consecutive years in the American Customer Satisfaction Index娃. We differentiated and compelling programming through leadership in content,
believe that providing high-quality customer service is an important element technology and customer service. Due to the rising cost of programming as well as
in minimizing subscriber disconnection, or churn, and attracting new higher costs to acquire new subscribers in an increasingly mature and competitive
subscribers. industry, it is even more important to distinguish and elevate the DIRECTV
experience with a focus on delighting our new and existing customers. To fulfill our
•Valuable Orbital Slots and Satellite-Based Technology. We believe our
goals in a profitable and sustainable way we developed a strategy to (1) transform
regulatory authorization to use desirable orbital slots and broadcast spectrum
the customer service experience, (2) advance the entertainment experience both
helps sustain our position as one of the leading companies in the MVPD
inside and outside of the home and (3) strike a balance between growth and
industry. Our satellite-based service provides us with many advantages over
profitability.
ground-based cable television services. We have the ability to distribute
hundreds of channels to millions of recipients nationwide with minimal •Transform the Customer Service Experience. The greatest opportunity we
incremental infrastructure cost per additional subscriber. In addition, we have to create value is to delight and earn the enthusiastic loyalty of our
have comprehensive coverage to areas with low population density in the approximately 20.1 million subscribers in the United States. We have
United States and the ability to quickly introduce new services to a large implemented systems to measure and monitor our customer feedback
number of subscribers. regularly to continuously improve customer satisfaction. One way we do so
is by measuring our Net Promoter Score, or NPS, which is a standard
We hold licenses in three orbital slots (99⬚ west longitude, or WL, 101⬚ WL,
metric that surveys our customers’ willingness to recommend DIRECTV to
and 103⬚ WL) in the Ka-Band spectrum. The satellites that have been launched
a friend or family member by sorting them into promoters, neutrals and
into these orbital slots have substantially increased our channel capacity, allowing us
detractors. Our goal is to make the customer experience a hallmark of the
to provide one of the most extensive HD channel offerings currently available across
DIRECTV brand, drive higher loyalty levels and meaningfully differentiate
the United States. In addition, we hold licenses to broadcast our services from 46
DIRECTV from competitors. Our strategy involves (1) identifying
of 96 Ku-band DBS frequencies spread over three orbital slots (101⬚ WL, 110⬚ WL
improvement opportunities, (2) increasing our investment in existing
and 119⬚ WL). The FCC is currently considering licensing additional DBS slots for
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